No Need for Ranma!
by Ammadeau
Summary: In this world, Gemma dies before he can take Ranma on that fateful trip to Jusenkyo. Nodaka and son move in with the man who married her younger sister, Nobuyuki and his son Tenchi.
1. Default Chapter Title

No Need for Ranma!  
(A Ranma One Half / Tenchi Muyo / Sailor Moon Alternate   
History)  
By Ammadeau  
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org  
http://members.tripod.com/~Ammadeau/fanfiction.htm  
  
As always, C&C, questions, comments, volunteers for pre-readers,   
and suggestions for a new title are welcome.  
  
Great thanks to my pre-readers of this series: Angus MacSpon,   
Larry F, Jonas Fang, and Lord Talon. Also to Gensao for hosting   
the previous version on his Tenchi Muyo Fanfic Archive   
(http://members.xoom.com/gensao/).  
  
Thanks to everyone who ever e-mailed my about this story. This   
revision would have never happened without your support.  
  
Note: Even though this is technically a revision, everything in the   
prologue is new.  
  
On with the story:  
  
Three women sat around an image that floated in the air  
between them. It is not precisely correct to say that they were  
sisters, for they had no mother or father. Nor were they 'born' of  
the same source. Nevertheless, they were sisters in a sense that  
went deeper than normal sibling relationships.  
The image they watched was three dimensional, and had no   
apparent means by which it was being projected. To another, the   
phenomenon might have been thought of as inexplicable, but to   
these three, it was trivial.  
On it were displayed the images of many planets; some  
teeming with life, others cold and dead. Words on the screen  
indicated various statistics on the planets, and where applicable,  
the life which they contained. The sisters had watched planets start   
from the most primitive ecologies and evolve into galaxy-wide   
civilizations, only to fall apart and devolve back into their primal   
state. They had watched this happen many times over.  
"This has grown tedious for me," the middle sister suddenly  
declared as she brushed a blue lock of hair away from her pink  
eyes.  
"What has?" the youngest sister asked her, glancing up at  
her taller sibling, though her spiky red hair nearly made up for the   
difference in height.  
"All of this. This watching, waiting, and hoping, only to  
have them turn back on themselves in the end, over and over again.  
Indirect influence isn't enough. They are such children that we  
need to take them by the hand and guide them if they will ever  
achieve what we want of them."  
"What are you planning to do?" the youngest asked. She  
could tell that her middle sister had already had something planned  
for quite a while now, waiting until now to put it into effect. After  
their latest setback, this must have seemed like an appropriate  
time.  
"I will descend down to the universe and attempt to guide  
one of these groups. This planet shall serve as my nexus," the  
middle sister said, gesturing to one of them.  
"But you will have to limit yourself in order to do that."  
"Yes, but there is no choice if our goals are ever to be  
achieved."  
The youngest thought over this for some time before  
saying, "All right, then I will descend as well. My methods are not  
yours, so I will take another group and guide them as I believe they  
should be. I will choose this remote planet as my nexus. Perhaps  
one of us will be able to succeed."  
Both turned to face the eldest sister, wanting to hear what  
she thought of their plans. Some moments passed before she  
spoke.  
"In the end, our goals will be achieved whether we interfere  
or not. It is only a matter of when. As of now I am inclined to  
wait and see what will be before taking action. You are free to do  
as you wish. I am curious how your experiments will turn out."  
The two younger sisters nodded and then vanished.  
As she stared at the display, the eldest sister began to smile  
slightly.  
"My Lady?" asked a figure which had just materialized by  
her side.  
"It has begun," she told him, though her eyes never left the  
image before her.  
"Yes, Lady Tokimi," D3 responded.  
The images of two planets were now displayed before her.  
The first would soon be renamed Jurai by its inhabitants, while the  
other would eventually be known as the Earth.  
  
Prologue  
  
The Masaki family had been blessed for the second time in  
two years with the birth of a child, a girl whom they named  
Achika. Katsuhito was more than a little worried, as he cradled  
their first daughter, Nodoka, in his arms. His wife had always been  
strong in spirit, but unfortunately not in body. The doctors were  
saying how she had been lucky to survive this birth with such a  
frail constitution. They had even advised abortion, which  
Katsuhito, being a Shinto priest, found unthinkable. Eventually  
though, he agreed with them. His faith was strong, but not as  
strong as his love for his wife.  
But in the end, his wife wouldn't hear of it. "The child that  
grows within me begs for life. Would you deny her, because of the   
possibility that she might end mine?"  
  
While she had survived giving birth, Katsuhito's wife had   
been weakened; so much so that for a year afterwards she was   
bedridden and unable to take care of her daughters. She tried to   
play with them each day, but it exhausted what little strength she   
had. Katsuhito did his best to keep visits short and low key so his   
wife could conserve her strength. Because of this, mother would   
always be a distant figure on a bed to Achika and Nodoka.  
It wasn't long before Mrs. Masaki was in and out of the  
hospital every week. Despite having some of the best medical  
care, her condition only worsened. She would spend the final year  
of her life in the hospital, with Katsuhito making daily visits to be  
by her side. Her only regret was having her daughters grow up  
barely knowing their mother.  
  
Only four years after the birth of Achika, Katsuhito became  
a widower, though he was far from alone. He had his daughters to  
keep him company as he did his best to hide the pain in his heart  
from them.  
His oldest, Nodoka, was now six and, despite being such a  
tender age, had taken up some of the duties of a mother around the   
house, such as cooking and cleaning. Achika, even at age four,  
wanted to help, but her father wouldn't allow it.  
Katsuhito had forbidden Achika to work, mainly so he  
could have her happy and always by his side. She was the child  
that more resembled his dead wife and brought him the most   
comfort to his grief. Nodoka most resembled his mother, and  
possibly due to responsibilities left behind that he did not want to  
be reminded of, the former Jurai prince tended to ignore his elder  
daughter. This was something that he would come to regret for  
many years to come.  
  
Little Nodoka did everything she could to get her father's   
approval, but nothing seemed to work. Nodoka loved Achika   
dearly, but she sometimes felt jealous of her sister, who got to play   
with father all the time while she was barely spoken to. After all,   
she was the one who had taken responsibility for the chores and   
kept the household working; but Achika, who didn't do any work,   
was the one father fussed over. Watching her father in his morning   
practice, she came up with an idea.  
"Daddy, can you teach me kendo?" Nodoka asked him right  
after he had finished his daily katas.  
Katsuhito looked a bit startled by the question. "A little  
girl like yourself doesn't need to learn kendo. You should be  
practicing girl things instead."  
"I'm tired of girl stuff! I want to learn kendo!"  
Katsuhito tried to talk her out of it, but Nodoka was  
determined to whine until she had her way. The old priest  
eventually gave in, if just to stop her complaining.  
"Our family's sword style is very special and also very  
secret. You mustn't ever teach this to anyone else, without my  
approval. Is that clear, Nodoka?"  
The little girl simply nodded.  
"Nodoka, this is serious. Do you swear on your word of  
honor never to teach this to anyone else without my approval?"  
She thought about it seriously for a few moments, before  
replying, "I swear, Daddy."  
"Very well, this is how we begin . . ."  
  
***  
  
A week after starting middle school, Achika couldn't help  
noticing that her sister always ate alone, while she ate with some of  
the few friends that she had just made. Things had changed  
between them ever since the elder Masaki sister had started school.  
They used to be as close as siblings could be, doing everything  
together, except when Nodoka was doing her chores. Lately  
though, they had grown somewhat distant. They rarely talked or  
did anything together anymore. Achika thought that Nodoka had  
made friends at school that kept her busy, but that appeared to not  
be the case.  
"Why don't you come eat with us?" Achika asked her.  
"I don't want to," Nodoka replied, though it wasn't entirely   
true.  
"Why not?"  
"Just go with your friends, sister."  
Achika had grown to be sweet and gentle, in many ways  
the very image of their mother, while Nodoka had grown to be as  
stubborn as their father. That's not to say that Achika didn't have a  
determined streak in her, however.  
She grabbed her sister's hand and said, "You're eating with  
us whether you like it or not!"  
Nodoka laughed and relented. She realized that it was silly  
of her for being mad at her sister for being so well liked. And she  
had been a fool for staying away from Achika for so long.  
  
***  
  
'How did it happen?' Nodoka wondered as she watched  
her sister and her 'friend' chatting on the other side of the  
school yard. Achika denied that she and Nobuyuki were any more  
than friends, but it was obvious to anyone who was looking how  
close they really were, as if no one in the world existed but them.  
There was no major event that had brought them together,  
at least as far as Nodoka had noticed, but little by little they had  
grown closer, spending more and more time together, until Nodoka   
hardly saw her sister anymore. She was envious, but was it of   
Nobuyuki for spending time with her sister, or of Achika for   
having found someone to love?  
"Nodoka!" a girl shouted as she ran up to the elder Masaki  
sister, distracting her from her thoughts.  
"What is it?"  
"There's a pervert in the locker room! He's stealing our  
underwear and no one can stop him! Please, you've got to help  
us!"  
Nodoka considered saying no. The girls had all but ignored  
her for close to three years of high school, but the moment they  
needed her help, they came running. However, along with kendo,   
Nodoka had taken up with bushido, and so was honor-bound to   
help those who could not defend themselves. She didn't like the   
idea of a hentai get away with anything either, especially going   
through her locker. Grabbing a broom as a makeshift weapon, she   
followed after the girl. She didn't expect to see a little old man   
jumping around like a jackrabbit, a bag filled with bras and panties   
slung over his shoulder.  
With her broom held out in front of her like a bokken, Nodoka   
shouted, "Stop! What kind of sick old man steals women's  
underwear?"  
He took one look at her and shouted, "Sweeto!" The little  
ecchi made a dive for her chest. Nodoka was too shocked to move.  
The mini-hentai was stopped at the last moment by a young  
man who stood between him and Nodoka. He was about Nodoka's  
age, perhaps a bit older, dressed in a training gi and with his black  
hair tied in a loose ponytail. Nodoka noticed that with his glasses  
he looked like a somewhat older and muscular version of  
Nobuyuki.  
"Master, this time you go too far! I can't stand idly by and  
let you molest this girl!"  
"Standing up to me already, are you? I'll soon show you  
the error of your ways."  
The old man began to cackle as he and his student began to  
fight in earnest in the middle of the girl's locker room. Most  
people fled until Nodoka was the only other person who remained,  
broom still held ready.  
The boy was about to receive what would have been a very  
painful blow, when suddenly the pervert was batted out of the  
window. He looked up in surprise to see Nodoka standing over  
him, the now broken broom held high and a very satisfied  
expression on her face. He couldn't help seeing the way the light  
from an open window danced through her hair.  
Nodoka finally noticed him and offered a hand to help him  
up. He took it and said a bit nervously, "Thank you. I'm Genma  
Saotome. Nice to meet you."  
"I'm Nodoka Masaki. Tell me Saotome-san, do you always  
hang around women's locker rooms?"  
Genma was suddenly very embarrassed. "Well, no, but my  
master has some peculiar habits."  
"Why do you call a man like that master?"  
"You might not believe it, but he's one of the greatest  
martial artists in the world and it's an honor to be able to learn  
under him. I hope to surpass him someday."  
Nodoka smiled as she saw Genma's eyes shine with  
determination.  
  
Nodoka usually didn't ask her father's permission for  
anything. Having practically lived without his guidance for her  
whole life, she didn't think he had the right to tell her what to do,  
not that he tried very often. Having a boy over for dinner,  
however, wasn't something she could just do without starting a  
huge argument over it at least, which she didn't want to happen in  
front of her guest.  
"Daddy?" Nodoka asked him in the sweetest voice should  
could manage. It was the way Achika asked for things, and while  
it had the highest chances of success, it also made Nodoka feel sick  
to her stomach.  
Katsuhito studied his elder daughter for a moment. She  
was almost never polite to him, which meant that she was about to  
ask him for something, most likely something he wouldn't be  
happy about.  
"Is it all right if I had a guest over?"  
"Who is this guest?" Katsuhito asked suspiciously.  
"Oh, just a boy that I met at school," Nodoka replied,  
trying to sound casual. She wasn't going to mention that this  
particular boy had dropped out of high school to follow some old  
perverted martial arts master around or that he was currently  
waiting in the bushes outside the house.  
The old priest nearly laughed out loud in relief. While he  
had been upset at first to learn that his daughters were starting to  
take an interest in the opposite sex (even more so that the opposite  
sex was taking an interest in them), after a time he came to accept  
that his daughters would eventually find husbands and start to have  
their own families. It helped that he and Nobuyuki got along so  
well.  
"Does this boy have a name?"  
"Of course he does. It's Genma Saotome," Nodoka told  
him, starting to feel the strain of the sweet girl act.  
"Genma . . . Saotome?" Katsuhito said slowly, surprise  
evident in his voice. He should have known that his eldest  
daughter would choose to bring over the absolute worst boy  
possible.  
He had heard of Genma Saotome, probably every priest in  
Japan had heard of him by now. He was a pupil of the legendary  
martial arts master Happosai, who was more known for acts of  
thievery, lechery, and just plain indecency more than his skill at  
martial arts. Even though he'd only been the evil old man's pupil  
for a few short years, Genma had already made a name for himself  
in such areas as well. It could be that the mere association with   
such a lecherous old man had blown Genma's reputation all out of   
proportion, but when his daughters were concerned, Katsuhito   
erred on the side of caution. He had even heard that Happosai had  
taken another student in order to spread his horrible ways.  
"There is no way I'm going to let Genma Saotome or  
anyone associated with him in this house!"  
"But Daddy!"  
"No, my word is final. If it were just about anyone else, I  
would be able to permit it, but that boy is just plain bad. Nodoka, I  
don't want you to see this Genma ever again, is that clear?"  
"What?!" Nodoka asked, very much surprised. It was the  
first time that she could think of her father actually giving her an  
order.  
"Trust your father's judgment on this. You would be better  
off never having heard the name Genma Saotome."  
Nodoka nodded, acting properly submissive, while on the  
inside she was wondering what made Genma so special that he   
could make her father suddenly interested in her welfare.  
  
Nodoka was currently secretly meeting with Genma in the  
woods that surrounded her father's shrine. She'd been meeting  
with him about once every week since her father had forbidden her  
to see him. Doing something against her father right under his  
nose added to the excitement of their relationship for Nodoka.  
Usually, Genma would eat the food she cooked just for him  
and they'd talk about what it was like to be on the road or having a  
stable home. This time, however, Nodoka had remembered to  
bring a bokken. She wanted to test out just how good this  
infamous martial artist was.  
"Why don't we have a little sparring match today?"  
Nodoka asked him out of the blue.  
"Wha?" Genma responded, his mouth half stuffed with  
rice.  
Nodoka giggled at such a comic sight.  
Genma looked embarrassed.  
"Well, I told you before that I've been training in kendo for  
a long time and you've been studying under your master for a  
while. The kendo club at school doesn't allow female members  
and my father refuses to fight with me anymore, so I want someone  
to test my skills against."  
"I don't know if I can fight a girl."  
"Why not?"  
"Well, my master would kill me if I find out, since he  
thinks that women shouldn't be learning martial arts. He firmly   
believes that a woman's place is being a housewife."  
"It also makes it easier when he tries to grope them."  
"Fair play isn't one of the master's best traits," Genma  
admitted.  
"Please?" Nodoka begged in a sweet voice while batting  
her eyelashes like she had seen other girls do. Since Nodoka was  
the first girl to actually pay attention to him, Genma had no  
defense against this tactic.  
"Oh, all right, but just some light sparring. I don't want you  
to get hurt."  
"That's sweet of you Genma," Nodoka practically purred.  
The aforementioned martial artist blushed beet red.  
Genma found Nodoka to be a lot more skilled than he had  
expected and he didn't have to hold back quite so much as he had  
planned. Still, she hadn't had anything like the intensive training  
that the master had put him through and he finally won the match  
by pinning Nodoka to the ground. He suddenly realized where he  
was, and how close her lips were to his, and then jumped off of her  
in embarrassment.  
"I've never seen anyone use kendo like that before," Genma  
said to cover his embarrassment.  
What he failed to notice was Nodoka's similar embarrassment.   
"It's my family's style. I think my father and I are the only living   
practitioners."  
"That might be useful in beating the old freak . . . I mean  
training with my master. Do you think you could teach it to me?"  
"I wish I could, but before my father would teach me I  
swore an oath that I wouldn't teach it to any other without his  
permission. I seriously doubt he'll let me teach you."  
"Yeah, but you hate his guts anyway. Why should you  
keep your word with him?"  
"I gave him my word and I will not go back on it for any  
reason. As a martial artist yourself, you also must respect the way   
of bushido."  
"Okay, I guess I can understand that."  
  
By daring to meet Genma by her father's shrine, Nodoka  
had made it almost inevitable that the two would meet. She had  
planned it that way, hoping her father would be able to see that  
Genma wasn't as bad as people made him out to be.  
Genma was waiting as close to the shrine as he dared.  
Even though he knew that Katsuhito wasn't there, there was  
something ominous about the place. It could have been the bad  
experiences he had had with the master in similar temples. He told  
himself that he had nothing to worry about since Nodoka had said  
her father was away at some conference and wouldn't be home  
until tomorrow.  
He was very lucky that his master had decided to take Soun  
off alone to bring him up to speed before they all set out on  
training, since it gave him time to be with Nodoka. Still, it was  
inevitable that that master would return and he would be forced to  
say good-bye. Genma knew he was good, but he still was light  
years away from the master's skill. And no one escaped the master  
for very long.  
He was waiting for Nodoka, because she wanted to practice   
with him again, but had forgotten her bokken. Genma had offered   
to train her in kempo, but Nodoka had found that it felt wrong for   
her. Besides, it dropped her skill level so low that sparring was   
nearly impossible.  
Nodoka had told him to wait right there, and while reluctant  
to be so close to the shrine, he hadn't moved from the spot. She  
had said that she would only be a minute, but to Genma tensely  
waiting, it seemed that a half an hour had passed already.  
  
Katsuhito grumbled as he made his way to the Masaki  
shrine. He was in a bad mood. Not only was the Shinto   
conference that he'd been looking forward to for months canceled,   
but no one had seen fit to tell him until he arrived there. All that  
pointless traveling meant nearly a whole day wasted.  
As he turned from the path, he noticed a boy waiting at the  
foot of the shrine steps who hadn't seen him because he was  
looking up at the shrine in the distance. Katsuhito was a little bit  
puzzled at what the boy was doing there. This was a remote shrine  
so it got few visitors, even so he had put up a sign saying that he'd  
be away for two days. 'And why is the boy waiting at the foot of  
the steps rather than at the shrine itself?'  
Katsuhito took a minute to study the boy. He looked to be  
about eighteen with dark hair tied up in a loose pony-tail. A white  
gi hid a rather bulky frame, one that was almost entirely composed  
of muscle.  
With a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach,  
Katsuhito realized just who it was. 'So Genma Saotome dares to  
show his face around here? He must be casing out the Masaki  
temple in order to rob it. No wonder he wanted to get close to my  
daughter.' Without bothering to announce himself, Katsuhito drew  
his bokken and attacked.  
Genma's battle-hardened reflexes saved him from what  
could have been a serious injury had the blow connected. He was  
surprised to find an old man looking at him with murder in his  
eyes, holding a bokken like he knew what he was doing. The  
priest robes that the guy was wearing confirmed Genma's worst  
suspicions. He had finally met Nodoka's father and it was obvious  
that the guy didn't like him very much.  
Genma didn't want to fight Katsuhito, but the priest didn't  
give him any choice. He had to start fighting back just to avoid  
getting maimed. The old guy was good with that bokken, too  
good, he might even have been a match for the master. No matter  
how hard Genma fought back, it was obvious that Katsuhito was  
winning. He had to think a way out of this and fast.  
"Saotome School of Martial Arts Final Attack!" Genma  
declared.  
Katsuhito paused and adopted a defensive posture, readying  
himself for anything.  
"Run away!" Genma shouted and did just that.  
The old priest was too stunned to follow. By the time  
Nodoka had come down the stairs, he was in a rage.  
"Daddy, what are you doing here?" she asked, startled, as  
she subtly looked around for signs of Genma.  
"What am I doing here? I'm the caretaker of the Masaki  
shrine! What was that lout Genma doing here? I thought he was  
going to rob the temple."  
Nodoka laughed a little at that. People sometimes called  
Genma a thief, but she had never seen him actually steal anything  
from anyone and besides he had been too frightened of her father  
to go near the temple even when he wasn't there. She guessed that  
Genma's fears weren't entirely unjustified.  
"Oh, we were just going to have a little martial arts  
practice. He's been helping me with my training."  
"I thought I told you to never have anything to do with that  
man."  
Nodoka laughed again. "Oh daddy, don't tell me you were  
serious about that?"  
"I was dead serious and I still am. Nodoka, you don't know  
the evils that some men are capable of. That one is just completely  
untrustworthy. You must never see him again."  
Nodoka didn't think this was so funny anymore. She had  
gotten used to seeing Genma every day, he was a part of her life  
now. "What gives you the right to say what I can and can not do?"  
"I'm your father!"  
"Then why didn't you act like it? You've done nothing but  
ignore me since mom died and now you want a say in what goes  
on in my life? Forget it, I'll do what I think is right."  
"Nodoka," Katsuhito said in a very stern voice. "As long as  
you live under my roof, you have to follow my rules. I forbid you  
to have anything more to do with Genma Saotome. That man will  
only ruin your life."  
"Well, then I'm leaving home!"  
"What? Why?"  
"Because I love him!" Nodoka declared marching away  
from her stunned father. Just before she was out of his sight, she   
turned around and added, "And I don't love you."  
  
***  
  
It was a very small wedding ceremony; there were only  
four guests, who happened to have been married recently, each in  
ceremonies much larger than this. Achika, Nobuyuki, and Soun   
and his new wife all knew that the size of the wedding didn't matter   
to the two people standing at the alter. Katsuhito had forbidden   
this marriage, but he couldn't stop the love between Nodoka and  
Genma.  
  
***  
  
Genma inched through the house, large backpack slung  
over his shoulder and sleeping Ranma in his arms. Why couldn't  
his wife see that he couldn't possibly train the boy here, with all  
the distractions? They needed to be on the road, living hard off the  
land, and traveling to exotic training grounds. Not even a seppuku  
pledge had been enough for that woman. He had no choice but to  
sneak off in the night, using the skills that his master had taught  
him. Nodoka would come to understand that this was what was  
best for the boy.  
As Genma crept over the threshold, he nearly had his head   
severed by the katana that suddenly appeared at his throat,   
gleaming with the reflected moonlight.  
"Going somewhere, husband?" Nodoka asked him in a  
deceptively calm voice.  
"Just going out for a stroll," Genma replied, failing  
miserably to sound casual.  
"With our son?"  
"Thought the boy could use some fresh air."  
"And a backpack full of supplies?"  
"Well, that's just in case I wanted a quick snack."  
"Go back to bed, husband."  
Genma took one look at the steely determination in his  
wife's eyes, not to mention her steely katana, and replied, "Yes,  
dear."  
"And husband?"  
"Yes?"  
"Don't even think about trying this again."  
  
***  
  
Genma stood in the midst of a whirlwind as his wife got the   
house ready for a visit from her sister Achika and her family. The   
plan had originally included the Tendos as well, but they had to   
cancel at the last moment. He didn't think that Nodoka needed to   
be this frantic, the house had looked spotless before she started, but   
he knew that it was a wasted effort to try to convince her of it.   
Nodoka would not be satisfied until the house was perfect. It was,   
after all, the first time Achika would visit the new Saotome home.  
"I'll just go out back and train the boy," Genma said a bit   
nervously as he inched to the door before his wife could find yet   
another way he could help in her quest to eradicate all signs of dust   
and dirt. Ranma had been smart enough to hide in his room.  
"I don't think that's a very good idea, husband," Nodoka   
told him without looking up from her cleaning. "Why don't you   
and Ranma take a nice bath so you'll be ready for when everyone   
gets here?"  
"But they're not going to arrive for another hour and a half   
at least. Still have enough time to get some training in and have a   
bath."  
"Husband," Nodoka said with a slight edge to his voice.  
Genma bowed to the inevitable. "Yes, dear," he said and   
went off to find the boy so they could have their bath.  
Unknown to Genma, one of the reasons that Nodoka was   
being so determined in her cleaning is that her sister had recently   
taken ill and she didn't want anything to be around to aggravate her   
condition. She had tried to talk Achika out of coming, since they   
could just have it next week when she was feeling better, but her   
sister wouldn't hear of it. She wanted to see how Nodoka was   
doing and Tenchi was eager to meet his cousin Ranma. It was an   
odd coincidence that Soun's wife had taken ill a little before and   
was now unfit to travel, which is why the Tendos had to cancel.  
  
"Who's coming over, pops?" six year old Ranma asked his   
father as they both sat in the furo. Genma was currently planning   
to stay right where he was until just before the guests arrived. He   
made sure not to run the bath too hot for just that reason.  
"Weren't you paying attention to what your mother was   
telling you yesterday over dinner?" Genma asked.  
"Course not, gotta keep you from stealing my food!"   
Ranma accused his father and laughed. "What did she say?"  
Genma laughed a little too. It had been a stroke of   
brilliance for him to disguise martial arts training as games. He   
knew that chopsticks duels over meals was one of Ranma's   
favorites. Genma made sure not to steal too much of his son's   
food.  
"Do you remember you Aunt Achika and Uncle   
Nobuyuki?"  
Ranma shook his head.  
Genma realized then that Ranma had only been a baby   
when they had visited the Masaki house. Even though they lived   
near one another, the Saotome and Masaki families were rarely   
able to get together. This was only partially due to a certain father-  
in-law.  
"Well, they're going to be paying us a visit. They're also   
bringing their son Tenchi, who is about your age."  
Ranma though about it. It would be cool to have someone   
around who was his own age. He loved his parents, but he always   
dreamed of having a brother or sister. 'A cousin is almost a   
brother,' he reasoned.  
Despite how well Genma and Ranma had made sure to   
clean up and dress, Nodoka was unsatisfied. It was ten minutes of   
washing noses, behind ears, and adjusting clothes before she would   
declare them presentable. The doorbell rang only a few minutes   
later.  
  
"Hi, I'm your cousin Ranma," said the pig-tailed boy.  
The shy boy smiled a little and replied, "I'm Tenchi."  
Ranma grabbed his cousin's hand and said, "Come on, let's   
go play!"  
Before he could utter a word of protest, Tenchi was dragged   
out into the backyard. The adults all laughed as they watched   
Ranma show off his martial arts training while keeping up a   
excited monologue for the befuddled Tenchi.  
"I have a feeling that the two of them are going to be   
friends for a long, long time," Achika commented.  
  
***  
  
The Saotome family was staying with the Tendos through  
their time of grief. Genma went to comfort his old friend Soun,  
who had just lost his wife. Nodoka went to comfort the three  
Tendo sisters who were now without a mother, something that  
Mrs. Saotome was all too familiar with.  
Ranma went along with them. He was six and everything  
new was exciting to him. He ran ahead of his parents and right  
into the dojo. He looked around himself in awe. It was the first  
time he'd ever been in such a place, but his Pop talked about them  
sometimes.  
Then he noticed a girl about his own age there, with short,  
blue-black hair and a pale yellow gi.  
She turned from looking up at the family alter to face him,  
having heard him come in. "Who are you?" the girl asked.  
"I'm Ranma Saotome and I'm gonna practice here." That  
was what his father had told him on the way there at least.  
"You can't! This dojo belongs to me, Akane Tendo.  
Mamma gave it to me!" she practically screamed.  
"I can practice here if I want to!" Ranma answered, who  
didn't like anyone telling him what he could and couldn't do.  
"No you can't!"  
"Yes, I can."  
"Can not."  
"Can too."  
"Can not!"  
"Oh yeah? Well, you can't stop me!"  
"Can too! I'm gonna beat you up!"  
And then the two six-year olds began to fight with skill that  
would have been surprising in kids twice their age. In the end,  
Ranma won, pinning Akane to the ground by sitting on her. He  
sat, smugly surveying the dojo, until Akane began to cry.  
"What are you doing?" Ranma told her. "Be a man!" It  
was what his father always told him whenever he cried.  
"I'm a girl, you baka!" Akane screamed at him through her  
tears, kicking her legs in the air in a futile attempt at escape.  
Ranma practically leapt off of Akane then. 'Oh no, mom is  
going to punish me good about this. She's always telling me to  
never, ever use what I learned on a girl 'cause she doesn't want me  
ending up like the guy who taught my pop.'  
"Are you sure you're a girl?" Ranma asked.  
"Of course I'm sure, baka!" Akane shouted back. She had  
stopped crying and sat up. She wanted to beat the boy up some  
more, but she was still a little too sore from their earlier fight.  
"How was I supposed to know that? You look just like a  
boy!" It was all this stupid girl's fault he was going to get  
punished by not dressing like a girl.  
"What did you say?" Akane asked in a much calmer and  
colder tone of voice.  
Ranma failed to notice her tone. "I just said that you look  
just like a boy."  
Unknown to Ranma, Akane had recently started elementary  
school and the one thing that got her really mad was the way  
everyone, even the teacher, mistook her for a boy because of her  
short hair.  
"Die, Ranma!" she shouted and leapt for him. Soon they  
were fighting in earnest again.  
The two kids were unaware of their respective fathers now  
watching from the doorway. Genma had been trying in vain to  
find some way to snap his old friend out of his depression, who  
seemed intent on either wailing or sobbing. Tendo had been a bit  
emotional before and Genma could understand the depth of his  
loss, but this was a tad ridiculous. He had gone out in search of his  
son to show Soun what he'd been teaching the boy, and so walked  
in on the middle of Ranma and Akane's second brawl.  
"See how well they get along, Tendo? And they only just  
met! The Tendo and Saotome families are sure to be joined."  
"My little Akane is going to be a bride! Waaaah!"  
Genma shook his head. 'Was there anything that could stop  
his friend from crying?'  
  
"Ouch."  
Kasumi had been looking for Ranma, since Mrs. Saotome   
had asked her to, when she heard a boy's voice come from the dojo.   
She went there to find Ranma nursing a bump on his head, she   
absently noted a few other bruises and scrapes.  
"Ranma," she called out to him.  
He looked up in surprise. "Kasumi, right?" They had been   
introduced when Ranma had arrived yesterday, but he didn't really   
remember it that clearly.  
Kasumi nodded. "What happened to you, Ranma?"  
Ranma laughed a bit nervously and said, "Just sparring with   
my pop."  
"But I was sure that I saw your father go with my father to   
celebrate something. That was some time ago. Have they come   
back already?"  
Ranma decided to just tell the truth. He was no good at   
lying anyway. "Okay, I was kinda fighting with Akane."  
"Oh, that's wonderful!"  
"It is?" Ranma said with some surprise.  
"Oh, yes. Akane has been needing someone to spar with, to   
help her control her temper. She's been much worse since . . . well,   
you know. Father won't spar with her anymore, so it's good for   
Akane to have someone she can work off her anger with."  
"I don't know about that," Ranma said sheepishly. Akane   
always seemed angrier after their fights than before.  
"I'll go get your mother so she can tend your injuries. She   
sent me to find you anyway."  
"No, don't!" Ranma called out to her as she began to walk   
away.  
Kasumi stopped and turned back around. "Why not?"  
"Cause my mom will punish me if she finds out that I've   
been fighting girls. You can't let her find out."  
Kasumi thought about this for a few moments, being more   
thoughtful than most nine year olds. She hated the idea of lying to   
anyone, especially a person as nice as Mrs. Saotome, but Ranma   
seemed convinced that she would be against their sparring. Akane   
had been acting better lately, and now Kasumi knew why. Fighting   
with Ranma seemed to be her little sister's way of coping with their   
loss. In short, Akane needed to fight Ranma and there was a good   
chance that Mrs. Saotome would put a stop to it if she ever found   
out.  
"All right, I won't tell her. I want you to lie down on one of   
the mats over there."  
"Huh? Why?"  
Kasumi opened up the first aid kit that her father had put in   
the dojo and took out some things that she was going to need. She   
wasn't entirely sure of what she was doing, but she had seen a   
doctor take care of her family's martial arts related injuries several  
times. Someone needed to take care of Ranma if they were going   
to keep this a secret from Mrs. Saotome.  
"Thank you," Ranma said with a small bow after she had   
finished taking care of his injuries.  
Kasumi smiled a little. "You're welcome."  
  
Ranma had been staying at the Tendo Dojo for five days,   
and every day Akane would challenge him to a fight to prove that   
he didn't have the right to practice in the dojo. Ranma didn't want   
to fight a girl, but Akane gave him no choice. It never occurred to   
either of them that Ranma got all the practicing he needed with her   
daily challenges.  
Nodoka was currently unaware of her son's sudden rivalry   
since she was much too busy with the older Tendo girls, Kasumi   
and Nabiki. Kasumi was very interested in cooking as well as   
medicine. Nodoka had been helping Kasumi prepare all of the   
meals and showing her what she knew about first aid. Little did   
Mrs. Saotome know that Kasumi had been using her teachings on   
the latter to tend to Akane and Ranma.  
Nabiki, however, had no interest in that 'girlie' stuff, as she   
saw it, but was very intrigued by the fact that it was the woman's   
traditional role to manage the finances of the house. The middle   
Tendo sister had always enjoyed using her brain and it seemed to   
her that trying to earn money was a game that was both fun and   
challenging.  
Nodoka sat in the living room with Kasumi and Nabiki.   
She was showing the former how to mend clothes, while   
instructing the latter on the finer points of managing one's finances.   
Personally, she thought that both daughters were a bit too young to   
be worrying about such things, but they seemed genuinely   
interested and it kept their minds from their grief for at least a little   
while.  
Suddenly, she was distracted from her thoughts by the   
sound of a loud splash coming from the koi pond.  
A little before this, Ranma and Akane had been brawling in   
the dojo. Nodoka wasn't concerned for either of them because she   
didn't know about their fighting and her husband had assured her   
that he'd watch out for both of them. While Genma had been   
unreliable in the past, he had shown to be serious about helping out   
Soun and his family. Genma had been watching their matches, if   
just to gage the boy's skills against a somewhat lesser opponent.   
This time, however, he had decided that they would be fine left   
alone and took Soun to get a little drink.  
The 'sparring' matches between Ranma and Akane were   
normally confined to the dojo, but due to one of them forgetting to   
shut the door, the fight soon spilled over to the lawn. Ranma and   
Akane were too focused on 'sparring' to notice their change in   
surroundings, until they both ended up in the koi pond.  
Nodoka rushed outside and was shocked to see Ranma and   
Akane bruised, dirty, and dripping wet. Despite all this, they were   
still fighting. There was also no sign of Genma or Soun anywhere.  
"Just what is going on here?" Nodoka shouted.  
That stopped their conflict immediately. Ranma, feeling   
bad for doing something his mom had told him not to, tried to hide   
behind Akane. He ended up slipping back into the pond though.  
"Ranma, what did I tell you about fighting girls?"  
"But Mom, Akane started it."  
"Did not!"  
"Did too!"  
"Did --"  
"I don't care who started it! This is going to stop right here   
and now! Am I clear?"  
Both children had their heads bowed and answered at the   
same time. "Yes."  
"Good. Akane, why don't you go in and take a bath? I   
need to talk to my son privately for a few moments." Nodoka   
failed to realize that her hand was resting on the hilt of her  
katana. The children noticed though. Ranma gulped and Akane   
fled into the house.  
"Now what were you doing fighting with a girl when I told   
you not to?" Nodoka asked her son as soon as Akane had left.  
"Jeez Mom, I was just sparring with Akane, sort of like I do   
with pop." Though Ranma had been resistant the entire time due   
to his mother's disapproval, he actually looked forward to him and   
Akane's daily matches. They were fun, and him and Akane kind of   
had a good friendship going. It was like what he had with his   
cousin Tenchi, only different at the same time.  
"First of all, what you and your father do is closer to real   
fighting than sparring and Akane is still a girl regardless."  
"Mom, it's not like Akane is a real girl."  
"What do you mean by that?"  
"Well, she isn't like Kasumi. Akane acts and dresses like a   
boy all the time."  
"That may be so, but that doesn't change the fact that she is   
a girl. Now I don't want you fighting with her again, is that clear?"  
"Yes, Mom," Ranma answered reluctantly.  
"Now, why don't you go inside and take a bath once Akane   
is done with hers."  
Ranma nodded and ran inside. Nodoka's fingers idly   
tapped on the hilt of her katana as she planned to have some words   
with her husband.  
  
***  
  
After coming home from their extended stay at the Tendos,   
Genma had convinced Nodoka that he should take a short training   
trip alone with the boy. She eventually agreed and he might have   
extended it by ten years if it wasn't for Nodoka's promise to send   
her father after them if they were late. Genma shivered; only the   
master could equal the level of fear that Katsuhito inspired in him.   
It was a wonder that he'd had the courage to go against him and   
marry Nodoka in the first place.  
A few days later, and away from the diet that Nodoka had   
been imposing on him, Genma was starting to feel that he hadn't   
brought nearly enough food to last him and the boy for a month.   
Luck was with him when he spotted an okonomiyaki cart. He   
didn't have enough yen for the both of them, but he did have a   
plan.  
"Ranma my boy, would you like to play a game?"  
"Wow, a game!" little Ranma enthused. His dad always   
came up with the best games.  
"Do you see that okonomiyaki cart over there?"  
The boy nodded.  
"Well, if you manage to take one of the okonomiyaki   
without them catching you, then it's free! Doesn't that sound like   
fun?"  
Ranma nodded again and was off in a flash to begin the   
game.  
Mr. Kuonji smiled as his daughter assisted him in tending   
to the eager customers of his cart. Things just couldn't be better.   
Their cart was doing great, Ukyo was picking up on the family   
business much quicker than expected, and best of all, he almost   
had enough saved to open his own restaurant.  
Ukyo smiled along with her father. Working as a chef was   
so much fun that it didn't matter that no one at school could   
understand why she did it. She dreamed of a day when she'd have   
her own cart to tour around Japan with, selling warm okonomiyaki   
to the eager customers. She was so caught up in this dream that it   
was a few moments before she realized that the okonomiyaki she   
had been working on was missing.  
"What?" Ukyo said as she looked all around, her eyes   
finally resting on a boy in a dirty gi, half eaten okonomiyaki in his   
mouth.  
"You!" Ukyo yelled and ran after him, waving her spatulas   
in the air like weapons.  
Ranma, being mindful of not getting caught, executed the   
Saotome Final Attack as he father had shown him. In other words,   
he ran.  
  
"Wait," Ranma said just before they started fighting. Ukyo   
had finally managed to catch him. Ranma was a fast runner, but   
Ukyo knew the area much better than he did.  
After his experience with Akane, he had learned not to   
always judge a book by its cover. "Are you a girl or a boy?"  
"I'm a girl, you jackass!"  
"You are? Then I can't fight you." Ranma's tone conveyed   
his disappointment. He really wanted to fight; it would be fun. It   
didn't matter to him if he fought a boy or a girl, but it did matter  
to his mom. She had been really upset when she had caught   
Ranma and Akane in the middle of their sixth brawl.  
"Why?"  
"Well, my mama says I ain't supposed to fight girls, only   
bad people do that."  
Ukyo thought about this for a moment. While she was   
initially angry about the stolen food, the chase Ranma had given   
her was one of the best times she had had in a while. Putting the   
skills her father had been teaching her to the test would make it   
even better. If she got to do this every day, then it would be worth   
the price of a meal.  
"Okay, why don't we just pretend fight instead?"  
"Pretend fight?"  
"Yeah, me and my father do it all the time."  
"I don't know…"  
"I'll give you another okonomiyaki if you win."  
"Deal!" Ranma reasoned that his mom couldn't get angry   
over that, since it would all be just pretend. It might be fun trying   
out this pretend fighting stuff on Akane and his cousin Tenchi.  
  
From that day on, the two kids settled into a familiar   
pattern. Ukyo would cook okonomiyaki and try to defend it from   
Ranma, who would do his best to steal it. Contests between them   
usually ended up as duels, with Ranma always the victor. Ukyo   
didn't get mad the way Akane always did when she lost though, she   
just swore that she would win the next day. Genma watched,   
happy that Ranma had someone at his own level to spar at, while   
Mr. Kuonji was happy that his daughter had a playmate.  
  
"Here I come, Ucchan!" Ranma shouted as he ran in for the   
attack.  
"You won't beat me this time, Ranchan!" Ukyo declared as   
she readied her small combat spatulas.  
There was a small smile on her lips as she thought of the   
nicknames that they had come up with for each other. Ranma had   
just started calling her 'Ucchan' one day, so naturally he became   
'Ranchan.' It made Ukyo feel special that Ranma had come up with   
a name just for her.  
Several minutes later, both kids were sitting on a rock, each   
happily munching on their okonomiyaki.  
Ukyo was the happiest she had ever been in her life. Her   
cooking skills were getting better each day, she got to practice her   
martial arts often, and she had found someone who made her smile   
and laugh all the time. Ukyo also loved to rub it in the face of the   
neighborhood girls that she had a boyfriend. She hoped that the   
days like this would last forever.  
  
"I'm from Juuban," Ranma told her during one of their   
talks.  
"You mean you're not from around here?" Ukyo asked in   
surprise.  
"Nope, pops wanted to take me pretty far away from home   
since we had a whole month to train."  
"A month?" Ukyo said as she started count on her fingers   
how many days she had known Ranma. She was surprised to find   
that it had been three whole weeks already. "We are you going   
back home?"  
"In a few days, I think."  
Ranma suddenly found himself caught up in a fierce hug.   
"No, you can't go!"  
"Huh? Why?"  
"I don't want you to. You're my best friend, Ranchan."  
"You're my best friend too, Ucchan. I want to stay and   
keep playing with you, but pop says we got to go in a few days.   
Besides, my mom is waiting for me."  
"Okay, but you got to promise me that we'll be best friends   
forever."  
"Of course we will."  
"Pinkie swear?"  
Ranma nodded. They both locked pinkies and said, "We'll   
be best friends forever!"  
Ukyo hugged him again. "I'll miss you, Ranchan."  
"Me too, Ucchan."  
  
***  
  
Genma was flipping through an old training manual that he   
had found among the master's things while he watched Ranma play   
with a stray kitten that had wandered in the yard. Normally,   
Nodoka would be watching the boy, but she had gone on a trip   
with Achika to help boost her sister's declining health. She had   
warned him, on the pain of his father-in-law and her katana, to not   
take the boy away from school on some training trip. Genma had   
grumbled, but agreed, not that he had any choice in the matter.  
Now he reasoned, if he couldn't take the boy off to training   
to improve his skills, what he needed was some kind of super   
training technique that could be done right in his own home. The   
kitten that Ranma was playing with kept distracting his thoughts   
though. Pity he couldn't give the boy claws or the agility of a cat.   
Not to mention the enhanced senses and absolute fearlessness. If   
only there was a technique like that . . .  
  
Nodoka made her way up to the Saotome home. The trip   
had done Achika so much good that they had decided to cut it short   
so her younger sister could spend some of that time with her   
husband, Nobuyuki. Nodoka smiled at that thought. Tenchi may   
have a little brother or sister on the way.  
Nodoka was shocked out of her thoughts when something   
running on four legs knocked her over. She looked down in horror   
to see her own son curled up in her lap, purring like a cat.  
"Genma!"  
Her aforementioned husband took one look at the scene and   
was immediately grateful that his wife didn't have her katana at the   
moment. He also knew that he'd be camping out of the couch for a   
week because of this.  
Genma was wrong. Nodoka made him sleep outside, for a   
month, in the middle of the rainy season. She also fed him nothing   
but water and a small portion of rice. He was forced to get a   
second job just to avoid starving to death, since all the checks for   
his first job were directly deposited into an account that his wife   
had control of. Nodoka was of the opinion that she had let him off   
easy.  
  
***  
  
The Kuonjis were at a loss over what to do about their   
daughter Ukyo. Ever since that Ranma boy had returned home,   
she'd been listless and uninterested in learning how to be a chef.   
Mr. Kuonji had tried to get Ranma to stay by offering to engage   
the two of them, but his father had turned it down, even after he   
had offered his cart as a dowry. The man had looked tempted, but   
at the same time afraid of something. About the only good thing   
was The Kuonjis finally had enough money to start their own   
restaurant. The problem now was picking a location. Then   
suddenly, Mr. Kuonji had an idea.  
"Ukyo?"  
"Yeah, dad?" She was just sitting in her room, not doing   
anything, which was normal for her lately.  
"Well, we've finally saved up enough to start our own   
restaurant. Now where do you think we should have it?"  
To Ukyo, there was only one place she wanted to be, the   
place Ranma said he was from. "Juuban!" she replied   
immediately.  
Mr. Kuonji smiled to see Ukyo smile. If he finally had his   
daughter back again, moving to Juuban was a small price to pay.  
  
Ranma was about to go into elementary school when he   
was suddenly tackled from behind. He prepared to strike back,   
only to see who it was. "Ucchan?"  
"Ranchan!" Ukyo shouted, glomping on to him again. She   
was happy that he had remembered her, since it had been over six   
months since they had parted.  
"What you doing here?" Ranma asked her. "You and your   
pops still traveling with that cart?"  
Ukyo shook her head. "I'm going to school here. Today is   
my first day. We sold the cart and are opening a restaurant right   
here in Juuban. Isn't that great? We can play all the time like we   
used to."  
"Cool!"  
Both smiled and laughed, happy to have their friend back   
again.  
  
***  
  
It was a little more than a year and a half after Soun had   
lost his wife, when Achika finally succumbed to her long illness.   
Genma did his best to run the house on his own, since for days all   
his wife would do was cry. He tried to comfort her, but wasn't   
surprised at her level of grief. He'd only met Achika a few times,   
but she had been a kind and gentle soul. Even he could feel the   
loss in her passing.  
The phone ringing snapped him out of his thoughts. He   
picked it up and automatically said, "Hello, Saotome residence."  
There was a moment of silence before Genma heard a voice   
he'd honestly thought that he'd never hear again. "Hello . . .   
Genma."  
It was Nodoka's father, Katsuhito, who had forbidden his   
daughter to have anything to do with him, ever, or she would be   
disowned. Even after they had married, he never did carry out his   
threat. The old priest still gave Genma the willies though.  
"Hello, Mr. Masaki. We've already heard about Achika.   
I'm sorry about your loss."  
In the silence that followed, Genma berated himself over   
saying something so stupid. He was even more surprised by the   
old priest's response.  
"Thank you. While it has not been easy on me, there are   
others in more need of comforting. I assume that my other   
daughter was also hit hard by this tragedy?"  
"Yes sir, would you like me to get her?"  
"No, no. That's likely to do more harm than good. Genma,   
no matter how much it pains me to do so, I must ask a favor from   
you."  
"A favor? From me?" 'The old guy must really be   
desperate.'  
"Yes. As you may be able to understand, Nobuyuki has   
been devastated by Achika's passing."  
Genma nodded absently to the phone. He had been ready   
before to take the boy on a ten year training trip away from   
Nodoka, but for her to be . . . . Genma didn't even want to think   
about it.  
Katsuhito continued. "The man has gone into shock. He   
refuses to leave the house and has stopped eating and sleeping. He   
has also stopped taking care of his son. I've taken in Tenchi, but   
I'm worried about Nobuyuki. I've tried everything I could think of   
and I can't snap him out of it, and now his health is starting to go.  
"I've heard that you have a friend who has recently suffered   
a similar loss. I was wondering . . . I was wondering if you and   
Nodoka could come to the Masaki home and somehow get him to   
the point where he would at least be able to take care of himself. I   
don't know how well you know Nobuyuki, but from what I hear, he   
and Nodoka are good friends. This might benefit her as well."  
Genma thought about this for a while. It would take time   
away from training the boy, but his first priority was getting his   
wife out of her depression. Having to comfort another might just   
do it. Still, this was a unique opportunity that shouldn't be  
wasted. He had the man whom he had feared for about a decade   
over a barrel.  
"All right, I'll do it. It shouldn't be hard to convince   
Nodoka. However, my wife and I will have our hands full during   
this. Since you're already watching Tenchi, I was wondering if you   
could also watch our Ranma as well."  
There was only a slight hesitation. "I don't see that as being   
a problem. Tenchi would probably like spending time with his   
cousin."  
"Good, and while he's there, why don't you teach him that   
sword style of yours."  
Genma was still impressed by his wife's ability at kendo,   
and continually frustrated by her refusal to teach it, not even to her   
own son. He also knew that getting the old priest to teach his son   
would be something the old man would hate to do. For some   
reason the old guy would only teach it to Tenchi.  
"What?"  
"You've already started to teach Tenchi, so it shouldn't be   
too hard to teach Ranma as well. My son picks up things pretty   
quickly and --"  
"I don't think I would be able to do that."  
"Well, then I don't know if we'll be able to come. You see,   
I'd like to help you out, but I just can't neglect the boy's  
training."  
"But I'm teaching a sword style, while you're teaching him   
hand to hand. I don't see what I'm --"  
"Anything Goes Martial Arts means that anything goes.   
Armed skills are part of the art, I've just been concentrating more   
on the unarmed portion. Anything you can teach him can be added   
in with ease."  
There was a long silence before Katsuhito said, "Fine, I'll   
do it. Drop the boy off on your way to the Masaki house."  
Genma agreed and they chatted about probable dates and   
times of arrival. After he had hung up the phone, Genma burst into   
laughter. He had finally managed a little pay back against that old   
coot!  
  
***  
  
Tenchi was carefully sweeping up the leaves when he   
suddenly received a visitor.  
"Hiya Tenchi!" eight-year old Ranma greeted his only   
slightly younger cousin.  
"Ranma!" Tenchi shouted with glee as he immediately   
dropped the broom and ran over to greet his cousin. Grandpa had   
mentioned a surprise earlier, but he hadn't been expecting this.   
"Why are you here?"  
"I'm going to be staying here a while. My mom and pop   
are gonna be staying with your pop. They said he's real sad and   
they're gonna try and cheer him up!"  
"He's sad 'cause my mom died," Tenchi replied as he   
dejectedly looked at the ground.  
Ranma put an arm around his cousin. "It's okay Tenchi.   
My friend Akane, her mom died too. She was sad for a little while,   
but after a while she didn't get sad no more."  
"You cheered her up?"  
"Well, actually she gets mad all the time now, but I guess   
that's better than being sad. I tried asking her what makes her so   
mad, but then she just gets even madder. She's such a tomboy."  
"Tomboy? What's that?"  
"My pop told me when a girl acts like a boy it's 'cause she's   
a tomboy."  
Tenchi nodded sagely and filed away the information for   
later use. Fathers always knew useful stuff like that.  
"So what are you doing today, Tenchi?"  
"I got to clean up around the shrine."  
"Aw, that sounds boring. Let's go play around that big old   
tree!"  
"Ranma, you know grandpa doesn't want you going there."   
Ranma nodded, his grandpa could be a real stick in the mud   
sometimes, always forbidding them from doing one thing or   
another. Not that Ranma ever listened to him. Ranma and his   
parents rarely visited the shrine, usually only on holidays, but   
grandfather had already warned him several times to stay away   
from the holy tree of the shrine.  
"Okay, how about we go play by that cave again?"  
Ranma could see that that piqued his cousin's interest. For   
some reason, Tenchi seemed to like that cave, even though   
Grandpa was always telling him to keep away from there. And   
Tenchi, unlike Ranma, usually did what his grandfather told him.   
Ranma didn't really see what was so neat about some moldy old   
cave, but he didn't feel like doing chores or playing alone at the   
moment.  
"Where's grandpa?"  
"Talking with my parents."  
"Okay, let's leave now."  
As the two boys mock-fought under the shadow of the   
cave, neither one noticed the ghostly figure which watched them   
both with interest.  
  
***  
  
It was a week after getting back from comforting   
Nobuyuki, and Genma was up late at night doing something that he   
had really never done before: thinking, specifically about the   
future. Oh, he had some vague plans. Training the boy in the art   
so he could marry one of the Tendos and take over the dojo. Some   
specific plans on how to train the boy, not much more than that.   
All of these deaths around him had made him come to realize that   
he'd made no plans for the possibility that he might die one day. It   
was a chilling thought, but after the passing of both Achika and   
Soun's wife, it was one he had to face. Nodoka would go on   
without him. He knew she was a kind and gentle woman, but with   
a will of iron underneath. It was one of the reasons that he had   
married her. The boy might miss him, but he was a strong one as   
well.  
His biggest problem was who would train the boy when he   
was gone. Both Nodoka and the boy's grandfather could teach him   
that sword style of theirs, but Ranma would never reach his full   
potential if there was no one who could keep up his training in   
Anything Goes. Genma could free the master, since he doubted   
that they had really used enough TNT to do the old freak in, but   
that would probably only makes things worse.  
No, there was only one choice: his old buddy Soun. He   
had started training Akane in the Art, only to stop when his wife   
had died. Tendo had even stopped practicing himself, but maybe   
Genma could convince him to do this, just in case it was needed.   
He'd give his old friend a copy of all of his training plans and make   
him swear an oath. Despite being the master's pupil, Genma knew   
that Soun still had a strong sense of honor.  
  
***  
  
Katsuhito had never liked Genma, not from the moment   
he had first met him. It was obvious that he was a gluttonous,   
self-centered lout trained by one of the most despicable martial arts   
masters the world had ever known. Genma had been completely   
unworthy of his daughter.  
And now that man was dead. Yet the old priest felt no   
sense of satisfaction or justice. It could have been that in the end,   
Genma had chosen to save his family rather than himself, showing   
that underneath everything, his heart had always been in the right   
place. Katsuhito hated to think that he could be wrong, but   
perhaps he had misjudged Genma, and now it was too late.  
He reached for the phone, not feeling any humor in the   
irony of a call he had made in a similar situation. Instead, there   
was only bitterness over his past mistakes. Maybe, though, he   
could make it better somehow.  
"Nobuyuki, I need you to do me a little favor…"  
  
Soun Tendo put down the paper with a loud sigh. Not a   
single tear fell in a situation where he would normally be bawling   
his eyes out. His best friend in the world was now dead. Instead,   
his face was marked by a look of determination that none of his   
daughters had ever seen before.  
It was a shock to all of them, when after breakfast, he stood   
up and said, "I have to go to Juuban on a matter of honor and I   
might not be back until late. Kasumi, please look after your sisters   
until I return."  
Even though she was only fourteen, Kasumi took her   
responsibilities very seriously. "Yes, father."  
  
Soun found the door of the Masaki home answered by a   
man who was only vaguely familiar. "My name is Soun Tendo. I   
was a good friend of Genma's and I am looking for his wife,   
Nodoka."  
"Nice to meet you again. I'm Nobuyuki Masaki. I believe   
we met during Nodoka and Genma's wedding."  
Soun followed Nobuyuki into the living room where   
Nodoka was pouring over the papers before her. She was still in   
the process of selling her house and moving into the Masaki home.  
Nodoka finally looked up and noticed him. "Oh Soun, I'm   
so sorry for not calling you. Its just that after Genma . . . well,  
it hasn't been easy."  
"I understand," Soun said as he took a seat. "Are you all   
right about talking about it?"  
Nodoka nodded. "It's only been a week, but I think that   
somehow Genma knew something like this was going to happen.   
He did a lot to prepare for this moment. He made it very easy for   
Ranma and I to say good-bye."  
"If you don't mind, can you tell me how it happened?"  
"It was something so simple really. We were walking   
home from eating out to celebrate Ranma winning a martial arts   
tournament. We were crossing the street when a truck turned the   
corner and didn't stop. Genma managed to push Ranma and I out   
of the way, but he couldn't save himself. The doctors said that he   
should have died instantly from the crash, but Genma was always   
so strong.  
"He told me that I shouldn't be sad, that he had died in a   
way that he hoped would redeem the mistakes that he had made in   
life. He wanted me to go on without him, for my son's sake if not   
my own. He made me promise him to raise Ranma to be the   
greatest martial artist in the world. After I agreed, he smiled,   
closed his eyes, and then faded away."  
Then Nodoka started to break down in tears. Nobuyuki   
was immediately at her side to comfort her, while throwing Soun a   
hostile glare.  
"I'm sorry for bringing up such a painful subject."  
"It's all right," Nodoka replied as she wiped away her tears.   
"I think it hurts less the more I talk about it."  
"Genma also spoke to me about the possibility of his  
death. It was his wish that I take up Ranma's training. It might be   
best if Ranma and you would move to the Tendo dojo so I could   
begin his instruction in earnest."  
"I don't think that would be a very good idea. Ranma has   
been spending a lot of time here with his cousin Tenchi and that's   
helping both of them getting over the loss of a parent. It also   
would take him away from school, where Ranma has several   
friends. Besides, I've already begun to teach Ranma the Masaki   
family sword style, building on the somewhat sporadic lessons my   
father gave him. I don't know if Ranma needs to learn more of   
Anything Goes."  
Soun needed to do this though, for Genma, Ranma, but   
mostly for himself. It was his way of regaining part of what he had   
lost when his wife had died.  
"Perhaps if I were to train Ranma on the weekends? He can   
come to the Tendo dojo after school on Saturday and come home   
Sunday evening. That way he stays with his cousin and the same   
school, and you can still train him on the weekdays."  
Nodoka thought it over. In the end, she couldn't ignore the   
pleading in Soun's voice or her husband's last wishes to make   
Ranma the greatest martial artist possible. "All right, he can stay   
over the Tendo dojo during some of the school breaks as well.   
You had better not try anything like the neko-ken though, that   
alone has caused enough problems."  
Soun nodded and left. He had much to plan for.  
  
Akane flicked the sweat that was dripping from her hair as   
she went into the same kata for about the twentieth time. She,   
being a very determined eleven year old, refused to stop until she   
had it perfect. Finally, she would have the rematch that she had   
been training five years for.  
Akane had always been interested in martial arts. She had   
tried to imitate her father practicing as soon as she could walk.   
And it was something that she could do well, better than anyone   
she knew. Her family and friends were all impressed to see such   
skill in a little girl. It wasn't something that she was serious about,   
but it was something that she liked doing and being good at.  
That was until she met Ranma, who despite being her age,   
had beaten her five times in a row. No matter what she had tried,   
Ranma had always won. And then his mother had caught them and   
forbidden him to fight her, like Akane was too frail. She decided   
right there that she wouldn't rest until she had beaten Ranma at   
least once. And with her father's announcement of Ranma coming   
over on the weekends to train, she finally had her chance.  
  
Ranma smiled as he gathered up his bath things and headed   
to the Tendo furo. It had been so good to fight with Akane again.   
It was funny how flustered she got when she lost. She had even   
challenged him to an immediate rematch and lost even more   
quickly than the first time. She sort of reminded him of Ryoga that   
way. She even challenged him to a match over who got to use the   
furo first. He didn't know what sort of training Mr. Tendo had   
planned, but it looked like it would mostly consist of Akane trying   
to beat him up.  
Thinking of this, Ranma failed to notice that the furo was   
already occupied until he opened the door just as Nabiki was   
getting out of the bath.  
Barely looking at her, Ranma said, "Oh, I didn't know you   
were in here, Nabiki. Just tell me when you're done."  
With that, he left.  
Nabiki had gone from instant embarrassment to anger. She   
had recently hit puberty and her body was developing accordingly.   
She had also noticed that the boys had been paying a lot more   
attention to her lately, even going so far as to buy her things.   
Always looking for a way to make some easy money, Nabiki had   
done her best to take advantage of this.  
She was queen of middle school until her little sister Akane   
had come there and then suddenly all the boys had started to ignore   
Nabiki in favor of her 'cuter' sister. She hated how she was almost   
forgotten now. Why did Akane have to come and ruin everything?  
'How dare he pretend he didn't notice that I was naked!' she   
thought. 'He should have been struck blind by seeing a cute girl   
like me and started showering me with presents. I'll get Ranma for   
this!'  
Immediately, she thought of her first step. Finding her   
sister, she told Akane that she could have her bath now. Waiting a   
few minutes, she went and told Ranma the same thing, acting like   
nothing was wrong.  
"Ranma no Baka!" Akane shouted loud enough for the   
neighbors to hear and then punted a half naked Ranma into the koi   
pond.  
When Ranma glared at her accusingly, Nabiki only smiled.  
  
***  
  
Ranma cautiously approached his mother as she prepared   
dinner, having just come back from his weekly training at the   
Tendo Dojo. He was surprised to realize that it had been five years   
since he had started his training with Tendo-sensei. His mother   
had always been protective of him, but ever more so after his pop   
had died. His sensei had tried many times to persuade her to allow   
Ranma to go on a extended training trip, but Nodoka refused to   
have her son out of her sight for more than a week.  
Ranma knew his father had planned many trips, but the one   
that he had always talked about was to China. Due to the good   
business of the reopened Tendo dojo, Tendo-sensei had finally   
saved more than enough to pay for the trip, but he was afraid that   
Nodoka would say no without even hearing him out. That's why   
he had persuaded Ranma to ask for him.  
Ranma had agreed since he really wanted to go on this trip,   
but that didn't make asking his mom any easier. Nodoka was   
normally very sweet and loving, but when Ranma stepped out of   
line she could become very stern. Ever since his pop died, any   
time Ranma did something wrong she'd call for a training session   
in kendo, which would last until he fell down in exhaustion. It   
was good training, but it wasn't something Ranma looked forward   
to.  
"Um, mom . . ."  
"Oh Ranma, welcome home. Dinner will be ready in a few   
minutes."  
"That's great, but there's something I've got to ask you . . ."  
"Tenchi is upstairs in your room." Nodoka thought it was   
odd that the boys had insisted on sharing a room despite the fact   
that in the large Masaki house they could each have their own.  
"That wasn't it. You see, the Tendo dojo has been doing   
really well and there's vacation from school coming up. Tendo-  
sensei was thinking that . . ."  
"Ranma, please sit down and tell me what you want."  
The pig-tailed boy did as he was told. "Tendo-sensei wants   
to take me on a month long training trip to China."  
The only sign that Nodoka's calm had wavered was the fact   
that she had nearly dropped the knife she was holding. "Ranma,   
you know that even though I'm only working part-time, my job as   
a kendo instructor is very important to me, so I can't just take a   
month off right now. I also don't like the idea of you being away   
from me for so long, especially to China. That's not the friendliest   
place for Japanese to go."  
"Please, mom. Pops always wanted to go to China and   
Tendo-sensei has been talking about all the things we can see there.   
It will only be for a month and I doubt there's much that me and   
Tendo-sensei won't be able to handle. I really, really want to go."  
Nodoka considered her son for a while in silence. He had   
grown up so fast. It seemed only yesterday that Genma was trying   
to sneak off with the boy on a training trip. He had proven himself   
able to take care of himself, maybe it was time that she let him go   
off without her, at least for a little while.  
"All right, you can go, but I don't want you missing any   
more school days then are needed and you'll still be responsible for   
any homework you have over this trip."  
"Okay, sure thing," Ranma answered readily, having just   
about ignored everything she had said past the part about allowing   
him to go.  
  
Soun and Ranma tried to sneak out of the Tendo home,   
only to be confronted by a very angry short-haired teenage girl   
wearing a gi and carrying a backpack.  
"Going somewhere?" she asked in a voice that was just   
barely holding back from shouting.  
"Just taking Ranma on a little training trip," Soun told his   
youngest daughter.  
"Forgetting someone?"  
"Like who?" Ranma asked, not catching on.  
"Like me, you baka!" Akane shouted right in his face.   
Even though he was used to it, somewhat anyway, Ranma took a   
step back.  
"Well, I didn't think that you would want to go on an   
extended training trip, being away from you friends and missing   
some school," Soun told her.  
"Besides, going all the way to China on a training journey   
is too rough for girls, even tomboys like you," Ranma added,   
putting his foot in his mouth. Akane showed her appreciation of his   
figurative contortion by applying her elbow to his stomach.  
That was just how they got along; neither of them really   
meant anything by it. Ranma really didn't think that women were   
weak, especially Akane, and in turn, Akane really didn't think that   
every boy was a pervert. It would have been hard spending every   
weekend and about half of the holidays with someone who you   
truly hated.  
Soun took a step back. Even he was frightened of his little   
girl when she got really mad and she looked ready to explode at   
any moment.  
"I am going with you." Akane said it as a flat statement of   
fact, making it very obvious that it wasn't open to negotiation. "Or   
else I'll persuade Kasumi to let me cook for the both of you when   
you get back. For a month. No... make that two months! "  
Soun and Ranma exchanged defeated looks. Both knew   
that they wouldn't be able to survive a week of Akane's cooking,   
much less two months. Trying to get food elsewhere would be no   
good; Akane would force-feed them if she had to.  
"All right, you can come," Soun said as if it were the last   
thing he wanted to happen.  
"Yatta!" Akane shouted, dancing around.  
Only when both Ranma and Akane's backs were to him, did   
Soun allow himself to smile.  



	2. Default Chapter Title

No Need for Ranma!  
(A Ranma One Half / Tenchi Muyo / Sailor Moon Alternate   
History)  
By Ammadeau  
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org  
http://members.tripod.com/~Ammadeau/fanfiction.htm  
  
As always, C&C, questions, comments, volunteers for pre-readers,   
and suggestions for a new title are welcome.  
  
A young man crawled on his hands and knees in the sand,   
searching for food, water, anything to help the people he felt   
responsible for, even though he might not have the energy to return   
to camp. He was their captain, and even though his space ship had   
been a pirate vessel, he was of an unusually high moral character.   
Many compared him to his grandfather, though the major   
difference was his ancestor had been fed and cared for by an army   
of servants, while he had to rob others just so he and his crew   
could stay alive.  
Or used to, at any rate. The merchant guild ship he thought   
had been easy pickings turned out to be a trap and they stranded   
him and his crew on this god-forsaken desert planet where there   
wasn't a sign of life as far as the eye could see. Most of his people   
had given up hope by now, resigned to die here, the last remnants   
of a once-grand House. He hadn't given up though, not when there   
were those who depended on him.  
The man scaled a dune that looked like just like the twenty   
or more he had already passed, but what he saw on the other side   
made him rub his eyes in wonder. 'This can't be real,' he thought to   
himself, as he gazed down upon the largest tree that he had ever   
seen, growing green and healthy right in the middle of the desert.   
What was more important to him and his people though, was the   
small lake which surrounded it.  
With a sudden burst of strength born from desperation, he   
frantically ran down the hill, stumbling and falling in the end to   
land at the edge of the pool. The man rubbed his eyes again. He   
knew that this had to be a mirage just like the many others he had   
seen already, but there was just something so real about it that his   
mind refused to pass it off as mere fantasy.  
Slowly, he dipped his hand in the water and nearly pulled it   
right out again. Despite the oppressive heat of the sun shining   
down on the lake, the water was cool to the touch. He brought a   
few drops up to his parched lips and tasted pure spring water. No   
longer caring if this were a mirage, the man cupped his hands and   
drank until he couldn't hold anymore. He was still starving, but at   
the moment he felt strangely satisfied.  
The man leaned back, the sun's heat now longer feeling   
quite so strong, and jumped up as if suddenly awakened from a   
dream. This was no time to rest, not when his people needed him!   
Taking out some of the containers he had brought with him, he   
started to fill them up as far as they could go. It wouldn't be nearly   
enough for everyone, but now that he knew of this place they could   
move their settlement here. He even considered taking a bath, but   
somehow felt that it would be like polluting a holy shrine.  
It was while he was filling these containers, that he heard a   
voice. A female voice that was soft as a whisper and seemed to be   
coming from inside his head. At first he ignored it, thinking it   
some form of madness that had finally overtaken him from the sun   
constantly pounding on his brain, but the voice was persistent. It   
was, however, very soft and even those words which he could   
make out clearly were in no language that he knew.  
"All right," the man shouted. "What do you want?"  
The voice said very clearly, "Who are you?"  
The man blinked in surprise and looked around. That voice   
wasn't from inside his head, but there was no one there but him.   
"Who said that?"  
"I did."  
"You? Well, where I you?"  
"I am right before you."  
"Huh? The only thing before me is the huge tree."  
"Yes."  
It took a moment or two for that to sink in. "You're trying   
to tell me that you're that big tree?" the man shouted incredulously.  
"Yes."  
"But trees can't talk!"  
"I can. I am a space tree, and currently the only one of my   
kind. I have been waiting for hundreds of years for someone like   
you to arrive."  
"Waiting for me? Why?"  
"Who are you?" It spoke each word slowly, as if it were   
part of a ritual.  
"I am Yosho, of the House of . . ." He stopped himself,   
knowing that his house had been destroyed before he had even   
been born. He had gotten used to calling himself that, but he felt   
uneasy on trying to lie to this strange tree. He got the feeling that   
it could see right through him. "I'm a pirate. I steal from the rich   
so my crew and I can have food to eat."  
"Why are you here?"  
Again, he had the sense that he were taking part in a   
ceremony of some sort, that this tree already knew all the answers   
to the questions that it asked, but they needed to be spoken aloud.  
"My people and I were stranded here by those who we   
sought to rob."  
"What do you want?"  
"Well, first I'd like to get this water to my people so they   
don't die of thirst," Yosho said almost jokingly. 'I'm having a   
conversation with a tree,' he thought to himself. 'I must be going   
mad.' "With your permission, of course."  
"Is that all?" the voice sounded disappointed.  
Yosho had the feeling that he had made his first mistake in   
the ritual that he was taking part of. He was being given a chance   
to make up for his mistake, but the next time the tree might not be   
so lenient. Being an experienced pirate had given him a feel for   
sensing when he was in a dangerous situation and despite the signs   
of tranquillity, this feeling was sunk deep in his bones. To fail here   
would bring disaster, for him and his crew.  
"If we don't get some food soon, we'll starve instead of   
dying of thirst. I'd like to have someplace to live better than this   
dust bowl, a working ship would be nice, as well as revenge   
against the people that left us here. While I'm at it, might as well   
ask for the restoration of my house and a mighty empire to rule."  
When the tree spoke again, it sounded pleased, which made   
Yosho breathe a small sigh of relief. The sense of danger had   
lessened, but it wasn't gone completely.  
"I have the power to make this world into a paradise if you   
choose, and to create a mighty fleet for you to command. I can   
give your lineage power beyond anything any human has ever   
experienced before. I can make it so that your descendants will   
rule over the galaxy and live in splendor for all of their days. I can   
grant you all this and more, if you are willing to pledge the service   
of you and your people unto me."  
Yosho found himself suddenly snapped out of his joking   
mood. He'd thought this was all some sort of hallucination and so   
had been asking for things that only a god could grant. When the   
tree spoke, however, he got the feeling deep in his bones that it   
could come through with its promises.  
He wasn't exactly fond of the idea of pledging his people to   
anyone, but what choice did he have? They were dying, would be   
dead, if he couldn't do something to save them. Striking a bargain   
with a tree, as strange as it seemed, was about the best choice that   
he had. Actually, it was his only one.  
"All right, if you can do all those things then you have   
yourself a deal. Now what do I do?"  
"Cross the lake to stand directly before me."  
"How do I do . . ." Yosho started to say when he noticed   
stepping stones rise up out of the water. "Okay, I see."  
After crossing, he said, "Now what?"  
"Place you hand on my trunk."  
Yosho did as he was told and was shocked as power like he   
had never felt before flowed into his body, removing all the signs   
of weariness and hunger from him. There was no one there to   
notice the three glowing marks on his forehead appear and then   
slowly fade.  
"Who are you?" he asked, awestruck.  
"I am Tsunami. Who are you?"  
"I am Yosho, of the House Jurai . . . no. I am Yosho, first   
king of the planet Jurai!"  
  
Chapter 1: The Return of Ranma  
  
Ranma cursed his luck as the bus splashed him. 'She'   
squeezed the dirty water out of now red hair and tight-fitting shirt.  
A few minutes later and he was before the Masaki   
household, home ever since his pop died protecting him and his   
mom six years ago. It seemed like a lifetime. They had moved in   
with his cousin Tenchi and Uncle Nobuyuki, who had lost his own   
spouse years before. Memories of good times spent there were   
almost enough to wash the bitter taste of China out of his mouth.  
  
Tenchi looked up from his homework to wonder who could   
be knocking in the middle of the day. It would be almost another   
week before his cousin Ranma was to come back from his training   
journey to China. His father was at work and Auntie Nodoka was   
out buying groceries.  
Grandpa rarely visited; more often than not, Tenchi had to   
be the one to go to see him. The tension between father and   
daughter hadn't really lessened over the years, not even after the   
death of its cause, the man that Nodoka had married against his   
wishes. Tenchi hoped that the silent war between mother and   
daughter would end some day, but both of them were too stubborn   
to back down.  
Tenchi opened the door to face a beautiful young redhead   
dressed in a red Chinese shirt and black pants. "Um . . . excuse   
me?" he managed to blurt out.  
Ranma looked up and said, "Oh, hi Tenchi."  
Tenchi was stunned. At school, girls rarely paid any   
attention to him, usually gawking at his cousin who was oblivious   
to their interest.  
Here was a girl that knew Tenchi's name and used it like   
they were old friends. Yet he was sure that he hadn't seen her   
before. With that flaming red hair she'd be hard not to notice.  
"Ah, who are you exactly?" Tenchi asked, and   
immediately berated himself for blowing his chance by saying   
something so stupid.  
Finally Ranma remembered what he looked like at the   
moment, a little surprised that he could so easily forget something   
like what gender he was. He guessed that in coming home from   
China he had gotten so used to the differences in his two forms that   
he didn't notice them anymore. That irked him a little bit, he didn't   
want to get used to his curse.  
"Oops... sorry, I forgot what I look like," he said, rubbing   
the back of his head in embarrassment. "It's me, Tenchi. Ranma."  
"Ranma?" Tenchi asked, more confused then ever. He was   
sure that the Ranma he had shared a room with hadn't been a girl,   
and the way that the wet shirt clung to this girl's ample features not   
only identified her as female, but started a slight nosebleed.   
Someone must be playing a joke on him or something.   
"Ranma." Tenchi laughed sheepishly, absently rubbing the   
back of his head, totally unaware that he was mimicking the girl's   
earlier gesture. "That's funny, I have a cousin with the exact same   
name. You could be related to him."  
"I am him," Ranma stated, starting to grow annoyed with   
both his cousin and his curse. "I know I don't look like it right now   
but I'm your cousin Ranma that's been staying here for the past six   
years. Just get me some hot water and I'll explain everything."  
"Oh okay, won't you come in?" Tenchi lead the way back   
into the house, leaving 'Ranma' in the living room as he got a glass   
of warm water from the kitchen. 'Did Ranma get a sex change in   
China?' The very notion seemed ridiculous. 'Ranma was the   
manliest person he knew and proud of it. Auntie Nodoka was   
forever telling her friends of how 'manly' her son was. And what   
did hot water have to do with anything?'  
Despite the confusion with his cousin, Ranma felt great   
being back in the calm Masaki living room, after all the chaos of   
China. Soon he'd be seeing his mother again, hanging out with his   
cousin and friends, going back to school (urk, well, not everything   
is pleasant), and his life would be back to normal... as long as he   
kept away from cold water, that is. Yeah, right, he hadn't had   
much success with that lately. Ever since getting the stupid curse,   
disaster after disaster seemed to strike him and his life had been   
hectic enough to begin with.  
Tenchi came back in and gave Ranma a glass of water, his   
face still marked by confusion.  
"There's a place in China called Jusenkyo," Ranma began   
to explain. "It's a valley filled with cursed pools that various   
people and animals have drowned in over the years. Anyone falls   
into these pools takes on the form of whatever drowned there.   
Cold water activates the curse, but hot water reverses it."  
And with that he dumped the glass on himself, changing   
before Tenchi's startled eyes from a beautiful red-haired woman to   
his black-haired cousin.  
"So you . . .?" Tenchi managed to stutter out.  
Ranma nodded. "Yep, fell into spring of drowned young   
girl. Very tragic story of a young girl who drowned there 1500   
years ago."  
Tenchi really needed to sit down after seeing the change.   
It's not every day a potential girlfriend becomes your male cousin   
before your eyes. "I guess this is why you're back to early. How   
did this happen?"  
"Well, let's wait for my mom to come home. I don't want   
to explain this more than I have to."  
Nodoka was overjoyed to see her son again, but was less   
than pleased when she found out about his curse. She had always   
tried to raise him as the pinnacle of manhood, and now with a   
careless gesture he had become half-woman. She found her center   
as she always did before beginning sword practice, and asked   
calmly for the whole story.  
"Well you know that pops always wanted to take me to   
China to train," Ranma began to say. It was going a lot easier than   
he had thought. He'd been half-worried that his mom would reach   
for her katana as soon as Ranma had demonstrated his new curse.   
His mom had been training him in their family's unique style of   
kendo for six years now and she always went harder on him when   
she was upset with him.  
"It was part of his dream. I guess when Tendo-sensei took   
over training me it became his dream as well. He would always   
talk up the ancient mystery, the beauty, the fierce battles, and the   
many sights pops wanted me to see. One such place was Jusenkyo.  
"The guide there tried to warn us, but his Japanese was   
pretty bad and Akane and me were too hyped up to try to listen   
anyway. We were jumping from these bamboo poles over shallow   
pools, practicing mid-air combat. Tendo-sensei quickly joined in.   
"Well, I've always been a little better than Akane and I   
knocked her into one of the pools. I was worried when Akane   
didn't surface immediately since I know she can't swim, but the   
pools couldn't have been more than waist deep. Then a tiger   
suddenly jumps out of the pool and attacks me! Well mom, you   
know how I am with cats so the rest of it was kind of a blur. Next   
thing I know, I'm sitting next to a panda, my hair is red, and my   
chest is . . . um . . . you know, bigger."  
When Ranma heard his mother shouting at Mr. Tendo on   
the phone, he decided to save the rest of his story for later, like   
some time next decade.  
  
"Aren't you even going to start your homework?" Tenchi   
asked his cousin, who was currently lounging on his futon and   
looking up at the ceiling while Tenchi was busy doing math.   
Tenchi had the same amount of assignments as Ranma and knew   
that it would be hard to get it all done in a week. It was no surprise   
to Tenchi that Ranma didn't even bother to bring his homework   
with him, even though that was part of the agreement to let him   
leave on vacation early. Just about everyone knew how Ranma felt   
about school.   
"Hey, I only got back an hour ago, I need a break. Besides,   
there's almost a week before school starts, I have plenty of time to   
get it all done."  
"Did you forget that the teacher gave you a whole different   
set of assignments so you couldn't copy off me or any of your   
girlfriends?" The teacher had wised up to this when Ranma, never   
being an exceptional student, started handing in homework that   
was neatly written and on time.  
"Girlfriends?" Ranma asked with some alarm. "What are   
you talking about, Tenchi?"  
"Oh, come on. Those girls who are always helping you out   
in school. There has to be over a dozen of them. It's like you have   
your own fan club or something!"  
"They're just my friends, Tenchi. So what they help me out   
sometimes? I've been teaching them all martial arts to pay them   
back for it. They were really eager to learn for some reason."  
Tenchi decided not to mention that the girls spent more   
time watching Ranma exercise in his gi than actually learning   
martial arts. You'd think he'd catch on after the tenth time they   
asked him to perform the katas over again. Only two of his friends   
were actually serious about martial arts, and one of them was just   
as serious about Ranma himself.  
Not liking where this line of conversation was leading,   
Ranma decided to change the subject. "So Tenchi, found out   
what's really in that cave yet? The whole demon thing is probably   
only to keep people away. There could be some kind of treasure in   
there."  
"You know it's kept locked and only grandpa has the key."  
"So? He must keep the key somewhere. I bet it's in his   
office at the shrine. All you have to do is sneak in there and put   
the key back later. It'd be easy."  
"Easy for you maybe. You have any idea what he'll do if he   
catches me? He's been forbidding me to even go near that cave   
since I was little."  
Not that that had really stopped Tenchi in the past. In fact,   
near the entrance of the cave had been one of his favorite places to   
play. He had just felt so safe there, like someone was always   
watching out for him. It was his special place, much like the holy   
tree was Ranma's.  
"He won't do anything to you, after all you're his favorite,   
his heir. You, he'll forgive."  
Ranma didn't bother disguising the bitterness he felt to the   
old man who refused to acknowledge him as his grandson. He   
wasn't sure why, all Ranma knew that it had something to do with   
his pop before Ranma was even born. Still, he found it impossible   
to actually hate his grandfather. The old man was teaching him   
that sword style of his, along with Tenchi. While Ranma usually   
preferred to fight with his fists, he was well-versed in the   
advantages of kendo. His preference could be due to the fact that   
his cousin Tenchi was better at kendo than he was.  
"I don't know about this. I want to but . . ."  
"Jeez, you've sure turned cowardly since I've been away."  
"Hey, you take that back!" Tenchi shouted. Though he had   
never told him this, Tenchi idolized his cousin and tried to emulate   
him as best he could. Tenchi had never been all that brave, and so   
worked hard to be as fearless as Ranma (except when it came to   
cats, that is).  
"I mean, who would have thought that the once great   
Tenchi Masaki, captain of Juuban's undefeated kendo club, would   
have turned chicken so quickly."  
"Stop it right now, Ranma!"  
"And afraid of his own grandfather no less, a feeble old   
man. Such a shame." Ranma knew that grandpa was anything but   
feeble, but he wanted to goad his cousin on.  
"All right already, I'll do it! I was going to visit grandpa   
the day before school anyway, but you're coming with me, all the   
way into the cave to face whatever is in there."  
"Wouldn't miss it. Have to make sure that you don't   
chicken out."  
Tenchi decided to switch the subject back to him. "So it   
must be rough to be in love with a girl that changes into your   
biggest fear."  
"What?!!" Ranma practically screamed, exasperated and   
utterly confused.  
"You and Akane must have had some pretty romantic   
moments in China, after all the trouble you went through to be   
alone together. Out under the stars, waiting for old man Tendo to   
fall asleep so you can sneak into her tent and . . ."  
"Have you gone insane?!! I would never do anything like   
that with an uncute tomboy like Akane! And if I had tried   
something that macho chick would've booted me right back to   
Japan! She wouldn't have come at all if she hadn't threatened   
Tendo-sensei with her cooking."  
Tenchi had only met Akane a few times since his   
grandfather didn't want him to even try picking up Anything Goes   
style. While she wasn't always understanding, he could tell at heart   
that she was basically a good person. Ranma himself had told   
Tenchi that Akane was liable to say anything when she got really   
angry. When she as seven, she once yelled at the mailman because   
a stuffed animal she had sent away for was late.  
Tenchi could also tell that, while she treated Ranma as an   
almost hated rival, she actually considered him a friend and   
perhaps something more. They had known each other since they   
were five years old and been rivals for almost as long. Tenchi had   
come to feel a little resentment for the strong bond he saw between   
Ranma and Akane.   
Not liking where that though was going, Tenchi decided to   
try and at least get his cousin to start his homework, though he   
doubted he'd be finished in time for school. It wasn't that his   
cousin was stupid, a little naïve sometimes yes, but not stupid. It   
was he just didn't see any worth in school and thought of it as   
wasting time. It was the Art that Ranma lived for, and Tenchi   
sincerely hoped that his cousin could find something else in life   
besides martial arts. Like a nice girl to settle down with.  
  
Rei and her best friend sat on the steps to her grandfather's   
shrine. They had become companions after being ostracized by   
every other social group in their last year of elementary school.   
No one else could really understand how they could put so much   
time into one thing; Rei with being a shrine maiden and her friend   
with her cooking. This similarity was probably what had kept   
them so close over the years.  
That's not to say that they didn't have their difficulties. It   
had been quite a shock to Rei, also known as Sailor Mars, to find   
out that Sailor Jupiter was none other than her best friend Ukyo.  
Rei and Ukyo were waiting impatiently for the rest of their   
'friends' to show. They used the term loosely since each of them   
had a member of their little group that they weren't particularly   
fond of.   
It wasn't surprising that Sailor Mars and Mercury didn't get   
along. They seemed to represent their elemental natures, though   
Mercury was more like ice than water. An argument sprouting up   
between them was the only sure thing to happen at a senshi   
meeting.  
As for Jupiter and Venus -- well, Moon was really the only   
one who was actually friendly with Venus, though the rest usually   
tolerated her. Ukyo couldn't stand the stuck-up senshi, since girls   
like her had been alienating the okonomiyaki chef all her life.   
Ukyo found it hard to actually hate Venus, however, since she had   
once saved her life.  
"They're always late! What could be keeping them this   
time?" Rei asked angrily. 'Are Ucchan and I the only ones who   
realize how serious the situation is?'  
"Oh, lighten up Rei-chan! They should be here in a couple   
of minutes anyway."  
'Scratch that,' Rei thought, 'I'm the only one who takes this   
seriously.'  
Ukyo was too preoccupied with wondering if she should   
call the Masaki home again to see if Ranma was home. Besides,   
Ukyo and Rei were the only ones who were ever on time because   
they actually lived in Juuban. For some reason, all the others were   
from Nerima. They might have picked a meeting place more   
convenient to all if secrecy hadn't been such a big issue. There was   
also the fact that Juuban was where the senshi usually needed to   
be. More than one of their meetings had been broken up by a   
yoma sighting.  
Rei and Ukyo had been sitting there for fifteen minutes   
when two figures, followed by a black cat, calmly made their way   
up the shrine steps. They were surprisingly calm, considering this   
was the third time in a row they had been late. Neither of them   
was easily bothered by anything, but each for a different reason.  
The first figure was a tall girl, though she was now at an   
age where young woman might have been more appropriate term.   
She wore a simple dress with her long brown hair tied off in a   
loose ponytail. There was also a bit of something unnatural about   
her, a sort of serenity that could only be obtained by not fully   
living in the real world. While she was sincerely apologetic for   
being late, she thought that it wasn't something to get worked up   
over.  
The second figure was in many ways the opposite of the   
first. She was about average height, with her hair cut unusually   
short for a girl. Everything she wore was trendy and expensive,   
from her designer jeans to her name brand sneakers. Her eyes were   
sharp and were constantly looking around her, as if she were aware   
of everything happening in her vicinity. She wasn't apologetic for   
being tardy, partially because she didn't care about things that   
weren't her fault to begin with, but mostly because she knew it   
would anger Rei.  
"Sorry we're late," she said with a distinct lack of sincerity   
in her voice. "The train was delayed. Some sort of problem with   
the track."  
"You wouldn't have had that problem if you had taken the   
earlier train like I asked, Nabiki," Rei lectured.  
"Now, now Rei," Kasumi said, breaking up a potential spat.   
"My sister does her best to get us both here on time. Nerima might   
not be that far away, but it isn't easy for us to come here regularly   
and still keep our secret from everyone."  
Rei hated it when Kasumi butted in on her and Nabiki's   
verbal sparring matches, mainly coming to the defense of her   
sister. Rei liked to argue; it helped her to relieve some much   
accumulated stress. She suspected that Nabiki felt the same way.   
Their near constant bickering was actually beneficial to the both of   
them.  
It was impossible to argue with Kasumi. Rei had tried; the   
result was usually being forced to admit that you were wrong and   
making an embarrassing public apology. None of the normal   
arguing tactics worked against her. Logic failed against her; Rei   
had come up with a long, complex argument once that Kasumi had   
completely undermined with a few words. Facts were worthless;   
Kasumi always knew more about any subject than Rei did, no   
matter what it was. Getting angry was just plain stupid; at best   
Kasumi wouldn't react at all, at worse she would mildly scold Rei,   
which always made the senshi of Mars feel like a naughty child.  
"We don't have time for your bickering now anyway," Luna   
announced in an irritated tone. "We have urgent matters to discuss   
today." 'Why can't the others get along as well as Kasumi did with   
everyone?' the moon cat wondered.  
"Aren't we still missing someone, Luna?" Rei asked,   
feeling a little peeved at being denied her argument.  
"Make that someones," Nabiki added, who was also feeling   
irritated. She had her whole quarrel planned out already and now   
all that effort was wasted. Maybe she could use it next time.   
"We're still one cat short, if you hadn't noticed Rei."  
Before they could start bickering again, Kasumi said, "Yes,   
we really should wait for them. It would be rude not to."  
Ukyo ground her teeth and said nothing. She wondered   
why, out of all the people in the world, that . . . girl had to be  
Sailor Venus. She was just the kind of person that she loathed.  
Then came a sound from the bottom of the steps that had   
chilled many an evil doer's heart (and quite a few innocent hearts   
as well). Villains, scoundrels, and a number of gymnasts were   
known to quake in fear at its very sound. It was laughter.  
"Ohohohohoho! I see that you have all waited for the   
arrival for the star of our little group. Tarry no longer for I,   
Kodachi the Black Rose, have arrived."  
Kodachi leapt to the top of the steps, landing gracefully on   
one foot. She was still dressed in her St. Hebeke's school uniform,   
and her dark hair was tied off to one side in a lop-sided ponytail.   
She held a certain white moon cat gently in her arms who looked to   
be napping.  
Everyone except Kasumi grimaced at her little speech.   
They could all put up with her, mainly because they had to, but   
they didn't have to like it.  
"Nice of you to finally show up," Nabiki said, sarcasm   
oozing from her voice. She wanted to get angry at someone. If it   
couldn't be Rei, then Kodachi was her second choice.  
"Oh, was I late?" Kodachi asked as she carefully set the   
still-sleeping Artemis down next to Luna. "I'm afraid that brother   
dear was making use of the family limo and our other car is in the   
shop. I will endeavor to be more punctual for our next   
rendezvous."  
"Well, that's great Kodachi, but that's what you say every   
time you're late, which is a lot more often than when you're on   
time," Rei said, wanting to get her digs into the Black Rose as   
well.   
It was no secret that, among the senshi, Venus was the least   
popular; but for some odd reason she seemed to be the closest one   
to Kasumi, who was easily the nicest person any of them had ever   
met. How Sailor Moon was able to put up with her was a mystery,   
even to Nabiki.  
"Well, I do try to be on time, but I have other obligations   
besides being a senshi. After all, you can't expect one as popular   
as I to be available on your beck and call. Woe is me, to be so well   
adored, not only as the young star of the gymnastics world, but   
also the enormously popular senshi Sailor V. If only I could be as   
unpopular as the other senshi. Sailor Mars, for example."  
It was also somewhat odd that among their fans, Sailor   
Venus, or Sailor V as she had once been known, was the most   
popular of the senshi. The Sailor Venus figures and merchandise   
that Nabiki marketed under an alias were better sellers than all the   
other senshi merchandise combined. Not to mention that the Sailor   
V game Artemis had come up with was still one of the most played   
in the local arcades. It irked Nabiki almost as much as being voted   
'least popular senshi' by their official fanclub.  
"If you had taken the train, like Kasumi and I, then you   
would have been on time," Nabiki said, conveniently avoiding the   
fact that she and her sister were late nearly as often as Kodachi.  
"The train? How quaint," Kodachi said as if the very idea   
were impossible. "While it may be a fit mode of transportation for   
people like yourself, it is hardly adequate for one such as I. It   
pains me to hear that your noble sister must suffer such a   
pedestrian way of traveling."  
The Black Rose turned to address the eldest Tendo sister.   
"Kasumi, you must allow me to use the family limo to convey you   
to our next meeting. I suppose that your sister may come as well,   
if she must."  
Before Nabiki could come up with a scathing retort,   
Kasumi said, "Thank you very much, Kodachi. I'm sure that my   
sister and I are grateful for your kind and generous offer."  
"It is the duty of every noblewoman to aid those less   
fortunate. Think nothing of it," the Black Rose replied with a wave   
of her hand.  
"Why is this meeting so important anyway?" Ukyo asked   
Luna, trying to pretend that Kodachi wasn't there and cut the rose-  
girl off before she became even more egotistical. "We haven't   
even seen a yoma for weeks now."  
The black moon cat muttered a few choice words under her   
breath that made Artemis' fur stand on end, being the only one who   
could understand them, and then shouted, "Because we still have to   
find the princess!"  
"I thought that was Kasumi. I mean, she used the silver   
crystal and you said before that only the princess could use it."  
"Look, I said it but I was wrong at the time. I forgot to take   
in our unique situation here."  
"And, pray tell, what situation would that be?" Kodachi   
asked.  
"We went all over this the first time Kasumi used the silver   
crystal!"  
"You better go over it again," Nabiki said, "because I think   
you left some things out the first time. I remember something   
about the queen messing up when she used the silver crystal and   
personalities getting switched all around."  
"Yes, that's it, more or less. Only Queen Serenity didn't   
'mess up' as you said; the problem was the way she used the silver   
crystal was very uncertain. Actually, we're lucky that it worked at   
all."  
"Maybe you should explain it all from the beginning. I'll   
write it all down in the Mercury computer for future reference."  
Luna nodded, cleared her throat, and began. "Back in the   
days of the Silver Millennium, each world, including the Moon,   
had a guardian, or senshi. While these senshi were chosen and   
given power by the very planets which they were from, that power   
was ultimately released by the original Queen Serenity using the   
silver crystal. This was done in exchange for the government of   
each planet swearing loyalty to the Moon. As long as that loyalty   
was maintained, then there would be a senshi to guard their planet.   
These senshi were also sworn to watch over the princess of the   
Moon, who was also always named Serenity.  
"Pluto was an unusual case, however. Despite no longer   
having a population, it also developed a senshi. No one knows   
where the girl originally came from."  
"Wait, I remember you saying before that the Earth didn't   
have a senshi," Rei said.  
Luna nodded as she kicked the still-slumbering Artemis   
awake. "The Earth didn't receive a senshi because their royal   
family had always refused to sign the treaty that would ally his   
kingdom with the Moon. One of the reasons for the objection was   
they would be unable to select the senshi, since it would be the   
planet Earth itself that would do so. Instead, Endymion, by which   
I mean the prince and not the king who had the same name, had   
four bodyguards to watch over him."  
"And those were the guys who Beryl corrupted and turned   
into her dark generals, right?" Ukyo asked.  
"Well yes, but with all of them gone now we don't have to   
worry about that. As I was saying . . . um, where was I exactly?"  
"Queen Serenity had just created senshi to watch over her   
heir and all of the planets except Earth," Nabiki said in a bored   
tone. She wished Luna would just get to the point.  
"On nearly every world, the most skilled and intelligent   
girls were chosen when the princess of the Moon reached the age   
of fourteen. It was also at this time when the princess would   
become a senshi, Sailor Moon.  
"Many, many years after things went like this from   
generation to generation. Then one year, the princess turned   
fourteen and no new senshi were chosen. The old senshi still   
retained their powers and the queen could still become Sailor   
Moon, but no matter how much she tried, her daughter could not.   
Queen Serenity even tried to use the silver crystal to reawaken the   
power of the planets, but ultimately failed since it was only the   
original Queen Serenity who knew how to do this.  
"This change in a long-established order was seen by some   
as a sign of the looming downfall of the Silver Millennium. Some   
began to plot and plan on taking advantage of this. One such   
person was the last living descendent of the short-lived Pluto royal   
family. She called herself Queen Beryl. She had been staying on   
Earth at the time, trying to engage herself to Prince Endymion.   
She wanted to become the queen of Earth and use it as a stepping   
stone to conquer the solar system.  
"Three tense years followed, where sudden outbreaks of   
terrorism and minor wars taxed the abilities of the aging senshi.   
All except the senshi of Pluto, who as far as we know, was the   
original person chosen for the duty. She, however, fought little   
and did not act as if she thought herself subject to the queen.  
"During a short moment of calm, eight fourteen-year old   
girls suddenly found themselves chosen by the planets to take the   
places of the senshi, three years after this should have occurred. In   
many ways, these were the greatest senshi ever known, since they   
started more powerful and skilled than they should have been.   
Opposition was quickly pushed back.  
"On the Moon, however, things had gone a bit differently.   
Many expected the princess to finally receive her powers, but that   
was not to be. Instead, a young, distant cousin was chosen to take   
up the mantel of Sailor Moon. This was a shock to many, for not   
only was the princess not Sailor Moon for the first time in history,   
but the person chosen to wield that power wasn't very competent."  
"Actually, that's putting it mildly," said Artemis, butting in   
on Luna's story to get back at her for making him stay awake   
through a tale that he already knew. "She was a ditz, a klutz, and   
was always tripping over her own feet. The only way she could   
fight evil was by making them laugh too hard at her antics."  
Luna wished that she had just let Artemis sleep. "She   
might not have been as bad as Artemis makes her out to be, but as   
a defender of the Moon and the princess she was a failure. Now,   
it's important to know that at this time King Endymion and Queen   
Serenity had come to an agreement, which was that Earth would   
ally itself with the Moon only if the king's son was betrothed to the   
moon princess. So it was arranged and Prince Endymion began   
making frequent trips to the Moon. I understand that he first did   
this more to get away from Beryl rather than being all that   
interested in the engagment.  
"It was a little over a week after this that Sailor Moon   
suddenly found herself a protector in the form of Tuxedo Kamen.   
Usually, all he would do was encourage her to fight on and leave   
most of the actual battles to her. I would only find out about this   
much later, but it turns out that Tuxedo Kamen was in reality   
Endymion who had taken pity in the Moon's defender. He might   
even have been surprised when that pity turned to love."  
"But that's great!" Ukyo enthused, "All we have to do is   
figure out who Tuxedo Kamen is and we'll have found the prince!   
He should be able to lead us right to the princess!"  
"But none of us have been able to uncover his identity for   
over a year now!" Luna shouted at her in irritation, mostly due to   
being interrupted yet again.  
The sailor senshi all nodded. It was true; after every   
appearance, Tuxedo Kamen would vanish completely, so they had   
never been able to find out who he really was. Not even after   
saving him from Beryl's mind control.  
"Also at this time, Queen Beryl was secretly growing more   
powerful, aided by a mysterious being known as Queen Metallia,   
though none of us knew this at the time. She wanted the silver   
crystal and would stop at nothing in order to get it. Beryl   
corrupted many people on different worlds, including Endymion's   
bodyguards. The only people her influence couldn't touch directly   
was any royalty or the sailor senshi. This meant war.  
"Everything finally came to a head during a gala ball on the   
moon. Beryl had used her growing influence to make sure that all   
of the senshi attended. This way she could conquer the worlds one   
by one, leaving no one left to oppose her rule. She chose a   
moment when sunspot activity was at its peak, making   
communication between worlds nearly impossible. One by one the   
planets fell to Beryl, making her stronger, while the people of the   
Moon drank and danced in blissful ignorance. Eventually, Beryl   
set her sights on Queen Serenity and the silver crystal.  
"We were caught totally unprepared for such a vicious   
assault and were quickly overwhelmed. The senshi tried to protect   
Queen Serenity, but like the planets they represented, one by one   
they fell. As she saw the enemy quickly approaching her daughter,   
Queen Serenity did the one thing she had sworn never to do; she   
used the silver crystal as a weapon."  
Artemis gave Luna look that none of the others noticed.   
Knowing the other moon cat for so long, she knew that he was   
wondering why she was deliberately leaving parts out of her story.   
Luna tried to convey that she would explain it to him later.   
Artemis nodded slightly. None of the senshi noticed their silent   
exchange.  
"In the end, Queen Serenity won, but a terrible cost. Beryl   
and her minions were sealed away for what she thought to be   
forever, but her empire lay in ashes at her feet. People were either   
dead or dying around her. Somehow, she knew that this was the   
fate of most worlds, that for some reason only the Earth had been   
spared. And knowing this, she gathered some of the dying around   
her and used the crystal for a final time, sending the souls of her   
daughter and the senshi into the future where they could be reborn   
again."  
"But she screwed up, right? Beryl eventually freed herself   
and some souls got mixed up," Rei prompted.  
"As I said before, she didn't 'screw up.' The silver crystal   
was never intended to be used as such, certainly not right after   
being used in yet another unusual manner. And so things didn't   
turn out the way that she had intended them to. Artemis and I were   
brought back in our true bodies, though our powers seem to be   
greatly reduced. Endymion seems to have been reincarnated, but   
I'm not entirely certain that things are as they should be with   
Tuxedo Kamen. If he is Endymion, then why is he defending   
Kasumi?"  
"But did you not say that it was the duty of Tuxedo Kamen   
to defend Sailor Moon?" Kodachi asked.  
"Kasumi is Sailor Moon, yet she has the personality of the   
princess, and therefore not the woman he was in love with. He   
should know that instinctively." Luna sounded especially   
frustrated over this.  
"I don't get it," Ukyo told the moon cat, "If Kasumi has the   
personality of the princess, then isn't she the princess?"  
Luna sighed. "There are two essential parts to a person,   
one's soul and one's personality. Simply put, personality is who   
you are, while a soul is what you are. Kasumi has the soul of   
Sailor Moon, therefore she _is_ Sailor Moon, but she somehow got   
the personality of the princess, which means she acts like the old   
princess had, but since she doesn't have her soul, she isn't the   
princess.  
"The rest of you all have the souls of the senshi which you   
represent, since the power of the planets are linked to those souls.   
The personalities, however… I never really knew the other senshi   
all that well, but it seems to me that Rei, for instance, has the same   
personality as the old Sailor Mars, while Nabiki doesn't seem to   
have the same personality as the old Sailor Mercury. I think Ukyo   
and Kodachi are the same as the old Sailor Jupiter and Sailor   
Venus, but I am not entirely certain."  
"Look, does that really matter?" Nabiki broke in. "We're   
the way that we are now and there's no way of changing it. You've   
been keeping an eye on the Masaki shrine for a while now, Luna,   
but you haven't reported anything. I guess Tenchi isn't Tuxedo   
Kamen."  
Luna shook her head a little sadly. She had been so sure   
that Tenchi was Tuxedo Kamen too. He was about the right   
height, with similar hair and voice, but not once did Luna feel even   
the smallest trace of the power of the silver crystal, which was how   
she had sensed all of the senshi. She had sensed something else,   
but was positive that it had nothing to do with the Silver   
Millennium. Well, almost positive.  
"I'm so glad that Artemis was able to tell that my dear   
brother isn't this Tuxedo Kamen. He already shames the house of   
Kuno with his insistence on wooing your youngest sibling,   
Kasumi. Her absence to China has only made him worse, though   
he may not be quite so bad if your mercenary sister didn't continue   
on selling him those photos which now decorate his room. I fear   
what will happen when he learns of Tuxedo Kamen and finds the   
masked defender of justice similar to his fanciful samurai ideal."  
The other senshi shivered at the notion. Working with one   
Kuno was bad enough, two would be hell.  
"Well, Ranma could still be Tuxedo Kamen," Kasumi   
added to their discussion.  
That was odd about Sailor Moon; all of the other senshi   
acknowledged her as their leader, but she rarely said or did   
anything. Most of the discussion and planning was usually   
handled by Rei, Nabiki, Luna, and Artemis. Most of the actual   
fighting was done by Ukyo, Rei, and Kodachi. Sailor Moon   
usually just made her speech at the beginning and finished off the   
monster at the end.  
"He better not be!" Ukyo declared almost right afterwards.   
Ranma was her boyfriend after all, even if he didn't know it yet.   
He shouldn't be spending all that time encouraging and saving   
Kasumi. Tuxedo Kamen had yet to save Sailor Jupiter even once.  
"But it is possible," Kasumi persisted, unaware just how her   
fellow senshi felt about a certain pig-tailed boy. "Luna and   
Artemis could never get close enough to sense him because of his   
ailurophobia. They've tried to sneak up on him, but for some   
reason, he can always sense when there is a cat nearby."  
"I tried configuring my Mercury computer to detect silver   
crystal energy, but since it was truly messed up by the silver crystal   
I can't figure out how to do it."  
Not only had some of their personalities been all mixed   
around, but some of their senshi equipment had been damaged as   
well when the queen had used the silver crystal to send them to the   
future. The Mercury computer's hardware was fine, but most of   
the software was either erased or scrambled. Even with Artemis'   
help, Nabiki had to take a crash course in computer programming   
just to get the thing working again  
"That's a first, the mighty Sailor Mercury admitting that she   
can't do something," Rei jumped in.  
"At least I admit my faults, unlike a certain priestesses.   
Maybe you just have so many that you don't know where to start."  
"Ahem!" said Luna, "Can we get back to the matter at hand   
please. Personally, I don't think that Ranma could be Tuxedo   
Kamen."  
"You're just counting him out because he hates cats," Ukyo   
observed. Even though she didn't want Ranma to be Tuxedo   
Kamen, she didn't like anyone saying that he couldn't be. She   
really liked the idea of him being a reincarnated prince, but then he   
was her prince already.  
Luna growled a little on that, probably because it was true.  
Artemis decided that he should try to bring this back under   
control before everyone started fighting each other, except for   
Kasumi of course. He would never call the relatively frequent   
brawls that broke out between the women 'cat-fights' though. That   
would result in him getting beaten up. It was somewhat surprising   
how well they all got along under combat situations.  
"Tuxedo Kamen's true identity is only of secondary   
importance. Who we have to find is the princess. She is the only   
one who can unlock the true power of the silver crystal and restore   
the moon kingdom."  
"And why would we want to do that?" Nabiki asked, a   
little more than irritated, having yet another argument end   
prematurely. "Why would we want to restore the moon kingdom   
in the first place? I'm happy with the way things are on Earth."  
"Think about it. We just barely won against our latest   
enemies. What will we do if we face a new enemy even stronger   
than they were?"  
"We would lose, unless we could increase our powers   
somehow," Kasumi answered.  
"And that is why we must find the princess as soon as   
possible," Luna announced, since she finally had everyone's   
attention again. "She would be able to use the silver crystal so the   
senshi can draw on more power from the planets they represent."  
"Can't Kasumi do that?" Ukyo asked. "She used the silver   
crystal before."  
"Unfortunately no. We already tried. While Kasumi can   
use the silver crystal to temporarily boost her and the other senshi's   
powers, she can not use it for anything else. Even using the crystal   
in that manner is very risky. If Kasumi tried it again, she might not   
survive."  
"Oh dear!" Kodachi said in alarm, surprising a few people.  
"Okay, I see your point," Nabiki said. The absolute last   
thing she wanted to see was her sister dead. She didn't like the fact   
that Kasumi risked her life as Sailor Moon to begin with. "We   
need to find the princess quick before trouble starts up again,   
because we know things aren't going to stay quiet for much longer   
around here. How do we go about it? We've been looking for her   
for a year now and no results so far."  
"Is there anything you can tell us that might identify her?"   
Ukyo asked. "Besides that she's a klutz I mean."  
"Remember that is only if the princess's personality was   
swapped with that of the former Sailor Moon. I seem to recall that   
all the princesses of the moon had the compulsion to wear a   
strange hairstyle that was supposed to be representative of the   
world which they would rule. Since Kasumi doesn't have this, it's   
possible that this compulsion resided in the soul. Yet, for some   
reason, I can't remember what it was. Can you remember,   
Artemis?"  
The white moon cat shook his head. "Only that it always   
made me hungry for some reason."  
"So we've got to be on the lookout for a possibly klutzy girl   
with a weird hairstyle?" Nabiki summarized.  
The two moon cats reluctantly agreed.  
  
"Achoo!"  
"Are you all right dear?"  
"I'm fine, mom."  
Somewhere not too far from the temple, a certain blonde   
klutz with an odd hairdo that often reminded people of dumplings   
went back to eating snacks, reading manga, and completely   
ignoring her homework. It wouldn't be the first time that Usagi   
Tsukino would have to stay after on the first day of school. It   
would, however, be the most memorable.  



	3. Default Chapter Title

No Need for Ranma!  
(A Ranma One Half / Tenchi Muyo / Sailor Moon Alternate   
History)  
By Ammadeau  
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org  
http:// Ammadeau.tripod.com/fanfiction.htm  
  
A woman with long red hair looked up to the sky to see the   
Earth hanging bright and blue above her. Everything that could be   
done there had been. All was in readiness for her to proceed for   
the next part of her plan. It would require uniting the scattered   
kingdoms of the solar system, but she was confident that once she   
threw her support behind any monach, they others would fall   
before them like wheat before the sythe. Now she only had to   
choose which monach would be the most advantagous for her to   
aid.  
The sound of rustling distracted her thoughts. Turning   
around and peering down into a valley, she saw a young girl   
playing some incomprehensible game with herself as she moved   
among the shrubs and trees, occasionally bowing or saying   
something in too low tones to make out. Her hair was golden and   
her eyes bright blue. Her clothes may have once been elegant, but   
were now torn and dirty.  
The older woman smiled to see such joy, and being   
somewhat mischievous, decided to try to join in on the fun.  
The young girl stopped her game when someone appeared   
before her. It was another girl, with spiky red hair and eyes as   
green as the leaves on trees.  
"What were you doing?" the new girl asked her.  
The blonde girl smiled somewhat nervously. She was shy   
around other people, which was why she did most of her playing   
alone. "I was practicing at being queen. My mom says that since   
the current queen doesn't have kids, I'll be the queen someday. I've   
been reading up on all the formalities and such."  
"Can I play too?"  
"You want to play with me?" the blonde girl asked, her   
eyes wide in surprise. No one had ever wanted to join her games   
before. The 'queen game' was only the latest in a long line of   
games she had invented for herself since she was considered too   
'weird' by other children.  
The redhead simply nodded.  
"Okay, I guess we can both be queen."  
The red-haired girl shook her head. "No, no, there can only   
be one queen. How about I be your advisor instead?"  
"All right," the blonde girl said with a little relief. She   
wasn't sure at all how her game would work out with two queens.   
"My name is Usagi, what's yours?"  
"My name?" the red haired girl said with a trace of   
confusion. It was not a question she had been asked before. She   
hadn't needed to be known in such away before. "My name is   
Washu."  
"I'll call you Washu-chan. Do you want to be friends?"  
Washu smiled and nodded. "Usagi is too informal a name   
for a queen though. From now on I shall call you Queen Serenity."  
Soon the game had begun again.  
  
Chapter 2: Kasumi Sailor Moon!  
  
Kasumi had been to Juuban once or twice when she had   
been younger, going on trips with her mother, either for rare   
ingredients or visiting a shrine priest that she was old friends with.   
This was the first time Kasumi was going alone, in search of the   
former, though it was her long since deceased mother who had   
prompted this visit. She had found one of her mother's old recipes   
for a dish that she remembered the whole family enjoying. It   
would be just the thing to snap her father out of his recent   
moodiness and help Akane forget the problems she was having at   
middle school.  
The only problem was that the recipe called for some pretty   
rare ingredients. She might be able to find them around home, but   
they wouldn't be at the same quality as at the places that she had   
visited with her mother. If any of them were still around, that is.   
Father had offered to go with her for protection, but everyone knew   
what a safe place Juuban was.  
Passing an arcade on the way to another shop, Kasumi   
happened to glance inside. They were the kinds of places that she   
had noticed before, but never really taken an interest in. Nabiki   
had once had a minor obsession with the ufo-catchers, but that had   
long since faded.  
Kasumi watched a girl about Akane's age playing at one of   
the games. She caught the eldest Tendo sister's eye due to her odd   
double-ponytail hairdo and the way the girl was so active in   
playing the game. She did not sit still; instead, she was waving her   
arms and moving this way and that, as if her position had some   
positive effect on her playing. Kasumi giggled a bit at the sight. If   
only Akane could be active in that way, instead of being so violent.  
Kasumi noticed a poster in the window for the game that   
the strange girl was playing. It featured a young girl with a long   
raven black pony-tail wearing a sailor fuku and pointing a ray gun   
in a triumphant pose. She was wearing a mask to hide her identity,   
though the poster proclaimed her to be Sailor V.  
Kasumi was all for love and justice succeeding over evil,   
but the uniform was a bit silly. She was glad her high school chose   
a more conservative school uniform. She did wonder, for a brief   
moment, what it was like to be Sailor V.  
Moving on, Kasumi wasn't really watching where she was   
going and suddenly heard a yowl of protest. Looking down, she   
noticed that she had accidentally stepped on a black cat who   
apparently had been looking at the same poster she had.  
She picked the cat up and immediately checked it for   
injuries. "I'm very sorry for stepping on you, miss kitty, but you   
don't seem to be hurt. Maybe something under this bandage?"  
As Kasumi carefully removed the Band-Aid, the cat's eyes   
suddenly widened, and Kasumi herself felt something. It was as if   
the moment had been frozen in time and there was a memory of   
something just beyond her reach. She neared understanding, and   
then suddenly the moment was gone. The cat scrambled out of her   
grip and ran away. Kasumi looked all around, but couldn't find the   
black cat anywhere.  
An hour later, Kasumi had finished her shopping and   
forgotten all about the black cat. She smiled as she entered the   
train station, thinking of the meal she was going to prepare that   
night. She nearly jumped in surprise when something rubbed   
against her leg. She looked down to see the black cat again. Now   
she could see that under that bandage had been what looked like a   
crescent moon bald spot.  
"Meow," said the cat to her, in a pleading sort of way.  
Kasumi picked the cat up and spoke in low tones to the   
animal, sure of what its request was. "Now, they don't allow cats   
on the train unless they are in cages and I don't have enough money   
left to get you one. Besides, I don't know how my father would   
feel about having a cat around the house when his number one   
student is scared to death of them."  
"Meow."  
"Then again, I've always wanted a pet and you're such a   
cute and smart little kitty. And maybe having you around could   
help Ranma get over his fear of cats."  
"Meow."  
"All right, you can hide in my bag for now. I'll talk to my   
father and see what he says. If he doesn't let you stay, I promise to   
find a good home for you."  
The cat crawled into her bag and was quiet all the time on   
the train. After leaving the Nerima train station however, she made   
it very clear that she would much rather walk on her own.  
  
Kasumi relaxed on her bed with a smile. The meal had   
gone over very well, everyone had smiled and complimented her   
on it. Even her father mentioned her mother without crying, which   
she couldn't remember ever happening before. Kasumi was tired   
from preparing the complex meal and the walk around Juuban to   
get the ingredients. There were still things that needed to be done   
around the house, but she had time for a short nap.  
Her new pet was lounging by the windowsill. Father had   
taken a lot of convincing, but the meal had won him over.  
"I wonder if I should take a nice bath," Kasumi thought out   
loud. "I think it would help me relax."  
"That may be true, but we don't have time for that now,"   
the cat told her.  
"Kitty, you talked!" Kasumi said in surprise.  
"Yes. My name is Luna and I have been searching for you   
for some time now, Kasumi."  
"For me? But why?"  
"Because you are the legendary Senshi, Sailor Moon."  
Kasumi laid back down. This had to be some strange   
dream that she was having, caused by overexerting herself.  
Luna must have guessed what she was thinking, for the   
moon cat said, "Believe me, this is no dream. You are Sailor   
Moon, originally of the ancient Silver Millennium, reborn in this   
age in order to fight for love and justice against the forces of evil.   
Look, I'll prove it to you."  
Luna performed a graceful back-flip from the window   
ledge to Kasumi's bed. At the apex of her flip, a locket appeared in   
a flash of light. Kasumi picked up the locket and examined it   
curiously.  
"What is it, Luna?"  
"That locket allows you to transform yourself into Sailor   
Moon. Please, put it on."  
Kasumi didn't think that the locket was really her thing, she   
never had much interest in jewelry, but she couldn't turn down a   
gift, so she went over to her dresser and tried it on before the   
mirror. It was a very pretty locket, she had to admit, though at   
seventeen she felt a little old for such things.  
Luna leapt to the dresser with ease. She nodded in   
satisfaction to the image of Kasumi and the locket in the mirror.   
She turned to her and said, "Now you have to say 'Moon Prism   
Power, Make-Up!'"  
Kasumi blushed, but said nothing.  
"What's wrong?" Luna asked in concern.  
"I can't say that, it sounds so silly."  
Luna facefaulted. "Yes, it does sound silly," the moon cat   
admitted. "The person who created the locket had an odd sense of   
humor. However, there's no way of changing it and it's vitally   
important that you become Sailor Moon. People could be in   
danger at this very moment."  
Kasumi thought about it. It was an embarrassing thing to   
say, but there was no one there to hear her and it would be awfully   
selfish of her not to say it if people were in danger.  
"Moon Prism Power, Make-Up."  
With a sudden eruption of colored light, Kasumi's normal   
clothes faded away and she found herself dressed in a sailor fuku   
with long gloves and knee high boots. She looked much like   
Sailor V in the poster she had seen, including the mask.  
Kasumi was blushing horribly now, and had her hands in   
front of her face so she wouldn't have to see her reflection in the   
mirror.  
"Kasumi, what is it?" Luna said, worried. Everything   
looked fine to her.  
"This skirt," Kasumi said finally, tugging at the object in   
question, "is much, much too short."  
Luna sweatdropped. "Never mind that now. Just know that   
you are Sailor Moon and, so transformed must, go out and fight   
evil!"  
"I can't go out like this!" Kasumi practically shouted.   
"People would see me and I'd be so embarrassed."  
"Don't worry about that. When you are Sailor Moon, there   
is a special disguise field in place so no one can recognize you   
unless they see you transform."  
"No one is going to see that!" Kasumi's cheeks now   
resembled twin cherries. She had noticed that for a short time   
during her transformation she wasn't wearing anything at all. The   
colored lights hid her mostly from view, but still . . .  
"Please, someone help me!" someone shouted. It sounded   
as if they were right there in the room, though no one else was   
there.  
"Who was that, Luna?"  
"Kasumi, put on the mask."  
Kasumi did as she was told and saw a young girl being   
terrorized by some sort of monster while people lay sleeping all   
around her.  
"Luna, a girl is being attacked by a monster. We have to   
call the police."  
"No, the police won't be able to stop the yoma. Only Sailor   
Moon can."  
"But I can't . . . it's happening at a jewelry store I passed by   
in Juuban. The train would take too long to get there."  
"Just concentrate on the place and say 'Sailor Teleport!'"   
Luna told her as she leapt into Kasumi's arms.  
"Sailor Teleport!"  
  
Kasumi's room faded all around her, only to be replaced by   
an alley right next to the jewelry shop. She was thankful that it   
was already dark and there we no people on the street. She could   
see the yoma through the windows of the store as the thing slowly   
advanced on the terrified girl.  
"What do I do?" Kasumi asked Luna, half-panicked.  
"Run in and tell that yoma, 'I am Sailor Moon, champion of   
love and justice! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!'"  
"Why does it have to be something so silly?"  
The moon cat shrugged. "It's sure to get the yoma's   
attention, at least."  
And so with only a slight case of nerves, Sailor Moon made   
her first entrance.  
"Who are you?" the yoma asked in a guttural voice as it   
spun around and spied the intruder.  
%"I am Sailor Moon, champion of . . . people everywhere! In   
the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"  
In the face of such opposition, the yoma didn't just give up   
like Kasumi had hoped that it would. Instead she said, "Get ready   
to die, Sailor Moon!"  
The yoma gestured with one hand and all the people   
sleeping around it got up and started towards Sailor Moon like   
zombies.  
"Oh my! What do I do now Luna?" Kasumi asked the cat   
in panic.  
The zombies came closer and closer, but before they could   
reach her, a rose suddenly impact the floor right before their feet,   
hitting with such force that it broke the floor tile. Everyone,   
including Kasumi, looked up to see a man in a tuxedo by the   
window, complete with top hat and cape. He wore a white mask to   
hide his identity, standing in the shadows where he couldn't be   
clearly seen. "Never give up hope, Sailor Moon," he told her in a   
clear, strong voice.  
Kasumi nodded, all traces of her earlier nervousness gone.   
Luna hopped up on her shoulder and whispered in her ear. Kasumi   
nodded, shouted, "Moon Tiara Action!" and threw her tiara, hitting   
the yoma and disintegrating it.  
"Until next time, Sailor Moon," said Tuxedo Kamen from   
the windowsill, and with a wave of his cape, he vanished.  
"Luna, who was that?" Kasumi asked as she made sure the   
people there were all right.  
"No time to explain now," Luna said a bit nervously. "You   
have to get home before anyone notices that you're gone. Your   
true identity must be kept a secret or your enemies will use it   
against you.  
Kasumi nodded. "Sailor Teleport!"  
  
Kasumi yawned as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. Luna   
was right beside her. "You had that dream again, didn't you?"  
Kasumi nodded. "But how did you know, Luna?"  
"Normally, you're a very peaceful sleeper, but when you   
have that dream, you always toss and turn. It's a good thing you   
don't talk in your sleep. We have a hard enough time keeping your   
secret as it is. I wonder what the dream means this time?"  
Kasumi thought about it for a little while. Every time she   
dreamt of when she first became Sailor Moon, something   
important always happened. She had had the dream just before   
meeting Sailor Venus and at the beginning of the Doom Tree   
business. "A new enemy?"  
"It could be," Luna admitted. "But there haven't been any   
signs of trouble and Rei hasn't felt anything lately. It could be that   
we're very close to finding the princess. I'd suggest that we tell the   
others to keep an eye peeled. The princess could walk right by us   
and we could miss her."  
  
At the same time, in the Juuban district, Rei's grandfather   
suddenly stopped eating breakfast, turned to his granddaughter,   
and said, "I sense a disturbance in the Force."  
Rei groaned. He hadn't been the same since the Star Wars   
manga had come out.  
  
Tenchi was exhausted for their first day at school the next   
morning, haunted by dreams of the demon mummy that he and   
Ranma had found in the cave. He thought it all had been a dream   
until he noticed Yosho's sword hilt lying near his futon. Tenchi   
grumbled since for once he was the last one up and had to struggle   
to be ready on time. Almost as an afterthought, he slipped the   
sword hilt into his book bag.  
Nodoka was puzzled as the boys sat down for breakfast.   
Ranma seemed full of energy and ready to go to school? Nodoka   
knew that her son wasn't fond of school, but she didn't want him to   
become a ronin whom no woman would marry. It also worried her   
that her son seemed to take no interest in girls. Tenchi by contrast,   
slumped down at the table and picked at his food without energy,   
just like she had expected her son to act, and had acted up until   
yesterday. Had something happened at the shrine? Both boys had   
come back a bit moody, but she had just assumed father had   
trained them hard.  
"My, Ranma," Nodoka told her son, "You sure seem   
chipper this morning. I thought that I'd have to drag you out of bed   
like I did when you were younger."  
"Oh, I'm just happy to be seeing everyone after such a long   
time away," Ranma answered, not adding that it would be another   
way to put the China trip as far behind him as possible.  
Nodoka wondered if this could be about a certain brown   
haired girl who'd been calling the house every week to see if   
Ranma was home yet. She was happy that her son had such a loyal   
friend for so long, but still Nodoka wished that Ukyo would act   
more like a lady and not so much a tomboy. Wearing a boy's   
uniform, of all things, and a giant spatula, while effective in   
combat, did look a tad ridiculous.  
  
Ukyo and Rei were waiting for the Ranma and Tenchi at   
the school gates. Tenchi wasn't exactly fond of Catholic school,   
but had decided to stick with his cousin when Ranma had been   
forced to transfer there. His grandfather thought of it as good   
training for when Tenchi eventually succeeded him as shrine priest.   
When Tenchi had pointed out that theirs was a Shinto shrine, his   
grandfather had pointed out that Rei also went there as part of her   
training. That had only made Tenchi even more reluctant, but he   
still wanted to be with his cousin, mainly because she found it   
difficult to fight in a skirt.  
"Ranchan!" Ukyo yelled out and was soon latched on to his   
arm with a vise-like grip. "I missed you so much. Oh why did you   
have to go all the way to China and leave me here all alone?" She   
was cute and definitely female, as Ranma could attest at that   
moment, despite the boy's uniform she wore.  
Rei was giving her a 'what am I, chopped liver' look, which   
she totally missed because she was staring deeply into Ranma's   
eyes. Tenchi wondered how his cousin could be so dense to miss   
how the girl felt about him. It wasn't like Ukyou even tried to hide   
her feelings. Quite the opposite. It seemed that the only person at   
school who didn't know how she felt was the person her feelings   
were directed at.  
Ranma was feeling very nervous, partially from the way   
that Ukyo was staring at him, partially from the way she was   
holding on to him like she thought he was going to float away, but   
mostly from what Tenchi had said a week ago about Ukyo being   
his 'girlfriend.' They were just childhood friends, weren't they?   
She had always grappled onto him since they were kids. That was   
just the way she was.  
"Ucchan," Ranma managed to say as he struggled in vain to   
loosen her grip. He never thought when he taught her about holds   
that she'd use them on him or that she'd come up with ones that he   
couldn't shake off. "I told you that I had to go to China as part of   
my pop's final wishes. I would have rather stayed in Japan if I had   
any choice in the matter."  
"Well you're back now," she declared so loud that half the   
school could hear her, "and I'm not going to let you go."  
Ukyo was still staring only at Ranma, so she missed the   
glares of most of the girls within earshot and the embarrassed look   
on her friend. Ranma had only been back for five minutes and she   
had already made her claim on him, the most desirable man at   
school.  
Ranma was starting to get very embarrassed himself. He   
knew how people could take such a statement the wrong way.   
Ukyo was always saying things like that, but he couldn't tell her to   
stop, not wanting to take the chance of hurting her feelings. That   
was just the way she was and he'd gotten somewhat used to it over   
the years.  
"Ucchan, that's going to be kind of hard. We're not even in   
the same class this year."  
"Fine, then I'll walk you to your class." And that was the   
last she would hear on the matter.  
  
With Ranma and Ukyo occupied with each other, Tenchi   
and Rei were more or less forced into each other's company. Their   
grandfathers were old friends and had been trying to bring the two   
of them together since they were kids, only to have the opposite   
effect. While they didn't exactly hate each other, neither liked   
being in the other's company for very long.  
"So, Tenchi," Rei finally said after a long silence. "Your   
cousin seems as clueless as ever. I really don't know what Ukyo   
sees in him."  
Tenchi took a deep breath, telling himself over and over   
again that he would not get angry. Most people could say   
something like that and it would have no effect on him, but for   
some reason Rei really got under his skin.  
"I'm late! I'm late!" they heard a female voice suddenly   
shout from somewhere close behind them. Rei paused as she   
sensed something. It stopped her for just long enough to cause the   
shouting, running girl to collide with her.  
Rei rubbed the back of her head as she glared at the girl that   
had just run into her. "Why didn't you watch where you were   
going?"  
Usagi looked up at the girl she had just bumped into, her   
eyes nearly filled with tears. "I'm sorry. It's just my first day of   
school and I didn't want to be late."  
"You --"  
"Now don't be so hard on her, Rei," Tenchi cut her off with   
a smile. He was pleased by anything that irritated the   
temperamental priestess. He turned to the blonde girl and offered   
her his hand. "I'm Tenchi Masaki. Here, let me help you up."  
Usagi took the offered hand and stood. Tenchi noticed the   
girl glancing over at Rei, who was using her patented glare of   
death, so Tenchi stepped in front of her to block the view.  
The girl looked a bit confused as she dusted herself off, so   
Tenchi prompted her, "And your name is?"  
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Usagi Tsukino, class 1-D.   
Pleased to meet you, Tenchi."  
"That's my class too. I can show you the way."  
"You can? I'd be very grateful. My mom had me transfer   
here because she thought it would improve my grades, so I don't   
know where anything is yet."  
"This place is easy to navigate once you get the hang of it.   
But we better hurry if we don't want to be late for class."  
  
Tenchi actually managed to find his cousin during lunch   
time before Ukyo had the chance to latch back onto him. He was   
leaning against a tree, staring up at the sky.  
"See what I meant?" Tenchi said to him.  
"Huh?" Ranma replied intelligently, his mind on things that   
had happened to him in China and on the way back home.  
Tenchi took out his bokken and bopped his cousin on the   
head because it was the only way to get his attention when he was   
like this.  
"About Ukyo, baka. The way she was acting this morning   
it was pretty clear to anyone that she thinks of you as more than   
just a friend. I'm sure that she's thought of herself as your   
girlfriend for a while now."  
"No way!" Ranma shouted to hide his own doubts. "She's   
just a childhood friend. I've known her since I was six and she's   
always been like that. I mean it's not like we're going out or   
anything."  
"Oh, what about that time when you went to the movies, or   
out to lunch, or all the times you've gone to her house or invited   
her over our house?"  
"As I recall you were at the movies with us and the rest of   
her friends . . ."  
"Yes, and I saw how close you two were sitting together.   
You even shared your popcorn with her, which you wouldn't share   
with me, your own cousin!"  
Ranma didn't get the chance to come up with a reply when   
a familiar brown-haired girl secured his arm.  
"Hiya, Ranchan. How about you and your cousin join Rei   
and me for lunch? I even made you a little something in honor of   
your return."  
She had prepared a large batch of okonomiyaki, which was   
no surprise since that was what she had been learning to cook since   
Ranma had first met Ukyo ten years ago.  
They had all settled down to eat when a female voice   
interrupted them, "Hey, Tenchi!"  
They all turned to see a double pony-tailed blonde girl   
coming up to them from the other side of the school yard, her   
lunch in hand.  
Ranma smiled and decided to get back at his cousin for his   
earlier remarks. "Picked up a girlfriend on the first day of school?   
You've gotten pretty smooth with the ladies since I've been gone,   
Tenchi. Must have been studying more than kendo over the   
summer. Your dad is sure to be proud of you."  
Rei smirked. "I wouldn't be surprised. He seems to meet a   
new girl every time he turns around."  
Tenchi turned to Rei, ignoring his cousin's remark. "I can't   
believe that you're still mad about that. It was years ago!"  
Ukyo took Ranma a side and asked, "Do you have any idea   
what they're talking about, Ranchan?"  
Ranma shook his head. It was odd that he didn't know. It   
wasn't like Tenchi to keep secrets from him. Normally, they told   
each other everything.  
Further conversation was halted by the arrival of Usagi to   
their table. She turned to Tenchi and asked, "Is it okay that I sit   
with you? I don't know anyone else here."  
"Um. . . sure," Tenchi said a bit nervously. While Usagi   
took her seat, Tenchi introduced the rest of the table. "This is my   
cousin Ranma Saotome, Ukyo Kuonji, and you've already met Rei   
Hino."  
"You don't have to sound so enthusiastic about introducing   
me," Rei said sarcastically.  
"Are you two dating or something?" Usagi asked as she   
watched their argument.  
"No!" Tenchi and Rei shouted simultaneously.  
With conversation killed, everyone decided it was time to   
eat.  
*Ukyo has really outdone herself,* Ranma thought as he bit   
into the first one. "Wow, Ucchan, these are really great! I mean   
you always make great okonomiyaki, but these are even better than   
I remember." It had been over three months since his last   
okonomiyaki. He'd been eating them for so long that they had   
almost become a staple of his diet. He would sooner get sick of   
rice than okonomiyaki.  
Ukyo blushed, nearly glowing with the praise. "It's because   
I made them for you, Ranchan." Actually, she had been practicing   
hard on both her okonomiyaki and her martial arts, that is when she   
wasn't busy with her friends. While she would like to think it was   
all for Ranma, there were other reasons which she couldn't tell him   
about, at least not yet.  
Ranma was busy stuffing his face, missing most of the last   
comment, but felt that he had to say something. His mother had   
successfully drummed some manners into him. One of those   
manners was that you should always compliment someone who   
gives you a gift and Ukyo always seemed happy when he   
complimented her, unlike a certain tomboy.  
"You're such a great person, Ucchan. I'm lucky to have met   
you." He had heard that on TV sometime before and thought he   
might try it out.  
Ukyo was now glowing bright enough to read by, while a  
number of eavesdropping girls winced in collective envy. While   
they would have liked some attention from Ranma, Ukyo had   
staked her claim on him for longer than anyone else had known   
him. And she defended that claim with a fierceness that made the   
toughest girls at school back off, especially when she had her   
spatulas with her.  
The whole time Tenchi was wondering just how thick-  
headed his cousin could be, to not see the way Ukyo looked at him.   
Whatever Ranma might say, that wasn't the look of a childhood   
buddy. 'Why can't any girl look at me that way?' he thought   
sullenly as he picked at his food, unaware of a female set of eyes   
that watched him with that very look.  
Despite Ranma's enormous appetite, even he couldn't finish   
all of the okonomiyaki. Realizing an opportunity, Usagi spoke up   
once again, "Um . . . can I try some of that?"  
A look passed between Ranma and Ukyo. He had eaten all   
he could, but they were still hers. Ukyo smiled warmly at the new   
student and said, "Sure sugar, have as much as you want."  
"Thanks!" Usagi exclaimed and finished off the remaining   
okonomiyaki so quickly that Ukyo quipped, "So is she a long-lost   
sister of yours, Ranchan?"  
Usagi, her mouth stuffed with the last okonomiyaki, looked   
up and wondered why everyone was laughing.  
  
Ranma swore under his breath as he climbed the stairs up to   
the roof. The teacher had him stay behind and finish all of the   
homework that he hadn't done over the summer. What was he   
supposed to do, take his textbooks to China with him? He swore   
again when he accidentally knocked over a bucket of water and   
activated his curse. At least everyone had gone home so they   
hadn't seen what a freak he had become. What would Ukyo think   
if she saw him now? Probably laugh at him or something. But she   
would find out sooner or later. Should he tell her? He should be   
going home, but needed a quiet place to think for a few minutes   
and the roof seemed to be about the best choice.  
Then he noticed someone sleeping up there. Probably   
some old drunk, he thought, but on looking closer he realised that   
it was his cousin Tenchi. Man, he must have been exhausted, but   
then he hadn't looked too good this morning. The whole demon in   
the cave thing must have really gotten to him. Ranma was pretty   
sure that it had been a trick that their grandfather had played on   
them somehow. Demons weren't real, were they?  
Ranma went over to his cousin and shook him awake.   
"Come on, Tenchi, rise and shine. If you were so tired you should   
have stayed home, tell my mom that you were sick or something."  
"Huh?" Tenchi replied, still half-asleep, wondering why a   
strange red haired woman was shaking him.  
"Jeez, you're hopeless," Ranma said and dropped him back   
to the ground.  
Suddenly, there was a sound that made all of Ranma's hairs   
stand on end. It was the one thing that truly filled him with dread.   
The sound of a cat. He spun around in fear, his pulse quickening,   
but there wasn't a feline in sight. That was when he noticed   
someone sitting on the roof of the stairwell. She was a young,   
cyan-haired woman in strange clothes. He simply stared at her, not   
knowing what else to do. He had the feeling that she wasn't a   
student.  
"Ryoko," she said simply.  
"Huh?" Ranma replied.  
"That's my name," and then opened her eyes which glowed   
with the light of twin suns, disturbingly familiar eyes.  
"You're the demon from the cave!"  
"It was cold in that cave and dark. I didn't like it. seven   
hundred years I was in there alone, until a little boy came. He even   
brought a friend. They would keep me company even though they   
didn't know I was there. I vowed that when I was finally released I   
would make them mine. Not you or anyone else is going to take   
them from me!"  
Ranma started to wonder if the cats would have been better.   
He didn't have a clue what this demon woman was talking about,   
but she seemed pretty pissed at him. Ranma had never fought a   
demon before. When he saw the energy sword form in her hand,   
he decided that he didn't want to start. He tossed Tenchi over his   
shoulder and started to run back into the school, not sure what he   
was going to do when he got there.  
%Luckily, Tenchi awoke soon after and was running on his   
own, even more afraid than Ranma that a demon was after them.   
Ryoko was faster and more agile than any opponent he had ever   
faced, so for once Ranma was actually thankful for how quick his   
cursed form was. It saved him from serious injury more than a few   
times, since the demon seemed out for his/her blood.  
The two cousins got separated, each ducking into a   
classroom and trying to be completely silent to avoid attracting the   
demon's attention.  
  
In another part of the school, Usagi was wandering around   
in confusion. She had unfortunately gotten detention on her first   
day for sleeping in class. Just when her time was almost over, the   
teacher had sent her down to the basement to get a mop to clean up   
the water that Usagi had accidentally spilled.  
The basement was large, scary, and confusing. Usagi had   
gotten all turned around down there and had been lost for a while   
before she finally emerged, mop in hand.  
Now her only problem was finding the classroom where   
she had had detention, which wasn't her normal classroom. The   
teacher had guided her there in the first place, so she didn't even   
remember the room number. By trial and error, she managed to   
eventually find the place. The teacher was gone now, probably   
tired of waiting. Usagi decided that after going through all that   
trouble to get the mop, she'd better clean up her earlier mess.  
By the time that Usagi finally left the classroom, it was   
already getting dark and she still didn't know her way around the   
school. It was much larger than her previous one, and the old   
building had an unusual layout that was difficult for her to follow.  
  
Tenchi had seen the demon set to kill his cousin and knew   
that he had to do something, but what could he do? Then he   
smelled something. 'What is that? Oh, gas fumes.' "Gas fumes!"   
he shouted accidentally, putting his hands on his mouth. But he   
was too late, the damage had been done.  
Then suddenly he wasn't alone as the demon seemed to   
flow out of the wall like it wasn't there. "I will make you pay for   
betraying me with that red-haired bimbo," she shouted, making   
Tenchi more confused than ever.  
"Look, what's that out the window?" he yelled and was   
surprised that she actually fell for it. Using this distraction, he   
exercised the better part of valor and ran for his life.   
  
One moment, Kasumi and Luna were calming sitting in her   
room, talking over trivial matters. The next, Kasumi was up and   
moving without a word. Luna had no choice but to follow.  
Kasumi quickly rattled off an excuse to her father and was   
out the door before he could blink. Luna was surprised how fast   
Kasumi could walk without breaking into a run. She was only able   
to catch up when Nabiki suddenly blocked their path.  
"What the heck is going on, sis?" Nabiki asked, sounding   
very irritated. It was obvious that she had to dress quickly and run   
fast to cut them off. "With all the troubles we've had, I've never   
seen you run anywhere."  
"Please get out of the way, Nabiki," Kasumi said in a   
strained voice. "I have to go."  
"Why? Can you tell me that at least?"  
Kasumi clutched her head as a minor headache came on.   
She had to go, now; it was a compulsion that was painful to resist.   
"Someone . . . someone important is in danger."  
Luna's eye's opened wide in surprise. "Could it be the   
princess?" she asked in an awed whisper.  
"I don't know, but I have to go!"  
Nabiki grabbed her sister's hand and dragged her into a   
nearby alley. "Great, but I'm going with you. No, don't bother to   
argue. Let's get changed and get wherever we need to be quick,   
okay?"  
Kasumi nodded. "Moon Crystal Power, Make-Up!"  
Nabiki smiled and shouted, "Mercury Crystal Power,   
Make-Up!"  
With Luna on her shoulder and Mercury holding her hand,   
Sailor Moon shouted, "Sailor Teleport!"  
  
A sudden explosion knocked Tenchi flat on his back. He   
found himself staring up at his currently female cousin.  
"What the hell was that?" Ranma demanded, wondering if   
Tenchi had set off the bomb that the chemistry club was making.  
"Oh, I think the demon set off leaking gas with her power,"   
Tenchi said and then clapped his hands in a Shinto prayer, "Pity,   
she was kind of cute."  
"Cute? She was trying to kill us!"  
Tenchi didn't get the chance to reply as they both noticed   
someone walk out of the flames, apparently unhurt. Both bolted,   
not even looking where they were going.  
Tenchi hid in another classroom, careful not to make a   
sound this time. He jumped five feet in the air when the fire alarm   
finally went off. That was when he noticed the light on the alarm   
looked like the gem on the demon's wrist. He remembered the   
legend that the gems were the source of her power. If he could   
somehow get the gem off her there was a chance that they could   
get her back in that cave. But how to do it?  
  
Usagi screamed as she saw a section of the wall break off   
and fall towards her. After a few moments, when nothing had   
happened, she very cautiously opened her eyes to see a strange boy   
easily holding the concrete over his head. He tossed it over to the   
side with an effortlessness that seemed superhuman. Usagi looked   
up at him with something akin to awe.  
The stranger wasn't easy to make out under the dim   
moonlight, but he was about her height, though much more   
muscular, wore a backpack with an umbrella on top and a   
bandanna around his head. His clothes were crude and looked like   
they'd seen a lot of use, like he'd been on the road for a long time,   
though he seemed to be her age.  
"Are you all right?" he asked as he offered her a hand.  
Only blushing slightly, Usagi took the offered hand and   
said, "Well, I am now, thanks to you."  
"Well, I um . . . hehe . . .," the boy muttered almost to   
himself in a way the that Usagi thought was cute, while rubbing the   
back of his head. "Nothing to . . . ouch!"  
"Oh, you're hurt!" Usagi said in alarm. She didn't like the   
idea that anyone should get hurt because of her clumsiness.  
"No, it's nothing," the boy explained, showing the cut on   
his hand where something sharp must have hit it.  
"But you're bleeding!"  
"Happens all the time . . ." He trailed off when Usagi took   
out the cloth wrapping for her bento (it was the only thing she   
could find) and wrapped it around his cut to stop the bleeding.  
"There, all better . . ." Usagi trailed off as she looked up   
into his eyes, so close to hers now. The both of them stood like   
that in silence for some moments before they broke off,   
embarrassed.  
Suddenly there was a bright light and a voice broke in,   
"Usagi, there you are. Your mother and I have been worried sick   
about you. I've been looking all over for you. What are you doing   
still at school? Didn't you notice the fire?"  
Usagi turned away from her father's voice to explain to the   
boy who had rescued her, but he was already gone. She blinked in   
surprise. Was he real or did she just imagine him?  
  
Tenchi heard a familiar voice from the school yard that he   
eventually identified as Ranma in his female form.  
"All right, I'm sick of running. You want me, come and get   
me."  
While Tenchi didn't know the voice too well, he knew that   
tone. It was Ranma's 'my pride is at stake so I won't back down no   
matter what' tone and it had been serious trouble to both of them in   
the past. Tenchi dearly hoped that it wouldn't get his cousin killed   
this time. While it would be nice to have a room all to himself, he   
would miss the company. It had been pretty lonely while Ranma   
had been away. Tenchi grabbed his school bag and made his way   
to the yard, not really knowing what to do when he got there, but   
realizing that his cousin might need his help.  
The fight would have been amazing for Tenchi to watch if   
his cousin's life hadn't been at stake. Ranma had always been the   
best unarmed martial artist he had known, but whatever he had   
gone through in China had made him even better. He moved so   
fast that he was almost a blur and landed blows that made Tenchi   
wince. The only problem was the demon took all that he had   
without even flinching and didn't seem to be tired at all, while   
Ranma was quickly being worn down. Tenchi knew that if he   
didn't do something and quick, it would be all over for his cousin.   
That was when he saw Ranma misstep on a rock, to stumble and   
fall. The demon closed in for the kill.  
Heedless of the consequences, Tenchi jumped right   
between the two combatants as the demon was about to land a   
painful blow. He knew he wasn't very good at hand to hand, but he   
had to try. To his surprise, a blue light that emerged from his   
knapsack deflected Ryoko's kick. She pulled back and threw a   
dozen yellow spheres at them, but a blue shield that suddenly   
appeared blocked them all. Then his bag was vaporized and the   
sword hilt of his ancestor hovered in the air before him.  
Tenchi reached out and took it. Ryoko tried to land a blow   
with her energy sword, only to be blocked by a blade of blue   
energy that emerged from the hilt of Yosho's sword.  
"Hey, no fair cheating!" she complained.  
Before he knew it, he was fighting the demon and gaining   
ground, the sword seeming to have a mind of its own. Still, Tenchi   
couldn't break through the demon's defenses, she was just too good   
a fighter. He admired her skill even as he was nearly cleaved in   
half by it.  
Ryoko had been focusing so intently on her new opponent   
that she had forgotten about the red-haired girl. That proved to be   
a mistake. Suddenly she was hit in the jaw with a flying kick, hard   
enough to make her stagger. Sensing an opening, Tenchi darted in   
with his sword and cut off her hand at the wrist, taking her jewel of   
power with it.  
Ranma and Tenchi eyed her warily as Ryoko sighed and   
said, "Oh well, another battle lost. That's the story of my life."   
That was when she noticed her right hand had been lopped clean   
off.  
Both Tenchi and Ranma stumbled over themselves to   
apologize. Even though this demon had tried to kill them, all of   
her menace had left her now, and one-handed, she seemed almost   
pitiful. Tenchi especially felt ashamed of what he had done, even   
though the sword had almost been acting on its own.  
"I'm sorry," he said, bowing.  
Ryoko only smiled and with a wave of her left hand, the   
right one was restored. Both cousins were still applauding this feat   
of magic when Ryoko vanished into the concrete. The two cousins   
had to leave quickly, however, when another explosion knocked   
them off of their feet.  
  
Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury had only arrived near the   
end of the fight when the redhead had fallen. They had been   
prepared to jump in and then that boy with the strange glowing   
sword had fought the daimon instead. They were more than a little   
surprised when he was able to defeat the daimon, though it had   
clearly survived the battle. It disappeared too quickly for them to   
get a chance to finish it off. They had to retreat when the school   
suddenly exploded, but when they returned the strange boy and girl   
were gone as well. They debated looking for them, but it would be   
difficult on such a dark night. Besides, they had to get home   
before their father got too suspicious.  
"The daimon is gone now, whatever it was," Mercury told   
Moon and Luna after studying her computer. "Well, we were   
waiting for a new threat, I guess that was it. What about your   
feeling, Moon?"  
Sailor Moon shook her head. "Whatever it was, it's gone   
now. The person is no longer in danger."  
"Did you get any readings on the sword the boy had?" Luna   
asked. It was a pity that the back light of the burning school had   
made him difficult to make out.  
Mercury nodded. "For once, this thing seems to be   
working okay, though it'll be a while before I'm able to decode all   
of the readings. Whatever it was, it was a lot more powerful than   
what we saw. It could be as powerful as the Silver Crystal. I think   
it was drawing power from an outside source, though. I can't be   
sure."  
"How is that even possible?" the moon cat asked with some   
surprise. The Silver Crystal was supposed to possess nearly   
limitless energy.  
Mercury shook her head. "I don't know, this computer   
could just be malfunctioning again, but this time I don't think so.   
What's even more surprising is the very strange readings I got from   
the boy himself and the girl the daimon was after."  
"Silver Millennium energy?" Sailor Moon asked.  
"No clear way to tell, but I can say this much: whatever   
they were, they weren't normal humans. And they were also   
different from the daimon. You know what? I think we just found   
her."  
"What? The princess?" Luna asked. "How can you be so   
sure?"  
"Well, I admit that I don't have that much to go on, but it's a   
strong assumption at this point. All we know about the princess is   
that she has Silver Millennium energy, is clumsy, and has a strange   
hairstyle that reminded people of food. The girl we saw tripped   
just before that guy came in, had her hair in a _pig_-tail, which is   
odd for a girl her age, and had a strange energy pattern. A daimon   
was trying to kill her specificly, only noticing the boy when he got   
in its way. Most of all, Sailor Moon was also compelled to come   
here to save her. Who else would she have to save but the   
princess, for whom the Sailor Senshi were created to protect?"  
Sailor Moon nodded. "You could be right. The boy could   
have even been Tuxedo Kamen without his Tuxedo, though he   
never used a sword before now. It's a pity we couldn't have gotten   
a better look at them, especially the girl."  
"Don't worry about it. We know she's a red-head with a   
pig-tail. Shouldn't be too hard to find."  
  
At the same time that the Sailor Senshi were returning   
home, Usagi had finally reached her house. After being thoroughly   
scolded by her mother and sent to her room without supper, Usagi   
collapsed on her bed with a sigh. Why did her life have to be so   
hard? It wasn't her fault that she had gotten lost in such a big   
school. It wasn't her fault that it had blown up for some reason.   
She didn't think she had done anything in the basement that would   
have caused that.  
That brought her back to thinking about the mysterious boy   
who had saved her. Only then did she realize that she didn't even   
know his name. Would she ever see him again?  
She was distracted by a sound outside her window. She   
looked out to see a light drizzle falling. There was something   
small moving down there in the dark, like a cat or a puppy.   
Probably someone's lost pet, she reasoned. Feeling bad for the   
poor animal out on a bad night alone, she decided to help it out.  
Slowly creeping out of her room to not alert her parents,   
Usagi made it downstairs and out the back door. Outside there was   
barely enough light to see by and the ground squished   
uncomfortably between her bare toes. She managed to creep up to   
the animal and had caught it in both hands before it knew what was   
happening. The animal struggled violently, but Usagi had a firm   
grip. Silently, she crept back into her house.  
Now in the light, she could see that it was a small black   
pig. Though it wore no collar, she thought it too cute not to be   
someone's pet. Besides, there was the yellow bandanna around its   
neck. Maybe it escaped from a pet store, she thought. She tried to   
calm the animal down by talking to it in low, soothing tones, but   
apparently it wasn't listening. Not that the animal would   
understand her anyway.  
Only when she closed the door of her room behind her did   
the pig cease its struggles. It looked at her with an expression   
almost like surprise. Usagi was a little stunned at seeing this and   
so the pig was able to leap out of her arms and dash to the far   
corner of the room.  
Usagi noticed that the piglet was shivering. Slowly, she   
inched over to it and snatched the piglet up again.  
"You're so cute ... I think I'll keep you." And the piglet,   
nestled in her bosom, had a sudden change of heart.  



End file.
